Inexperience Is Success
by Kateracks
Summary: Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary:**__ He enjoys the thrill of killling. She is afraid of death. He is a teenage genius. She is an energetic slacker. He has a constant smile on his face. She is always sarcastic. He is a cockypunk. She is a timid klutz. Can all these mismatches survive an adventure when they're mistaken for tomb raiders? Can there be success in inexperience or will lives be lost? Tomb Raider Yu Yu Hakusho Crossover._

_**Disclaimer:**____I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Tomb Raider._

_**A/N:**__ This is my first YYH fanfiction to be posted and, as odd as the combination sounds, I've been told that it's a good story. Please just read to find out. I'm posting the first two chapters together since they are rather short. Thanks for checking it out!

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**Chapter One—Introductions**

_Riiiiinnngg!!_

_The loud noise shook the creature from its half asleep state and it quickly made its way from the confines of the room. It traveled swiftly down the halls in search of its prey and when it spotted them, it slowed its pace to a silent stalk. The three unsuspecting girls didn't stand a chance. _

_The predator reached out a limb, preparing to attack, nearly succeeding in its objective when…._

"Rawr!"

I screamed at the sudden noise behind me, causing a chain reaction and the three girls I had been hunting screamed also. That's right, I am the predator.

My name is Katherine Hunt but I don't allow anyone to call me that. I am most widely known as Shorty and, no, that's not meant as an insult. (It's because of my disability that keeps me at a humble 4'8" and won't allow me to grow anymore.) My friends are the only ones that are allowed to call me anything else (aside from the stupid teachers) and around them I am known as Kat or Meows; I answer to the call "Here Kitty Kitty!"

My appearance is rather plain for a fifteen year old. I have shoulder length brown hair and dark brown eyes. My skin is pale which sometimes contrasts with the dark colors that I wear but I'll tan over the summer. Also, as a side note, my wheelchair is a shiny, metallic purple.

Christy Wilson, one of the girls I was trying to scare, is next. She's my best friend and has been such for eight years. We've been living here in Japan since we were little when both of our families moved here on business. Anyway, Christy has dyed brown hair with her real blonde highlights that goes well with her hazel eyes. She is known as Christy, Chrissy, or Kissy by some.

Then there's Tiara and Dusty Carlson, the foreign exchange students from America who arrived a year ago and my other two victims. They're sisters but quite different. Tiara has a hyperactive personality that one might say matches her blonde-orange hair. Her brown eyes are always sparkling and she's always there to perk you up. Dusty, on the other hand, is mellower though she does have her hyper moments, too. (She and I spend a lot of our time practicing our second language: Sarcasm.) She has brown hair like mine and green-hazel eyes.

I whirled on the person who had ruined my scare attempt. "Kuwabara! I hate when you do that! Now you're in for it! I'm going to take a potato peeler to your ankles as soon as I run them over a few times!"

He laughed at my anger. "You gotta catch me first, Shorty!"

I chased him around in a few circles before he dashed down the halls and out the front door. He leaped the stairs but I had to take the ramp down, buying him a few more seconds from my wrath. Now all I had to do was trip him and then I could—

"Hey, Shorty!" I heard a male voice call from across the school grounds.

"It's Urameshi," Christy announced.

I turned back to the idiot I had been chasing and then snorted. "Pfft. Forget you, Yusuke is way cooler."

I changed course and maneuvered through crowds of students in school uniforms like mine. Yusuke Urameshi is one of my best guy friends. I met him at the arcade once with his mentally challenged friend Kazuma Kuwabara when we all decided to skip school. I wound up making up the work but they were too lazy.

Today he was standing by the large oak that was near the fence and two other people were with him and Kuwabara. I recognized these guys as Hiei Jaganshi and Shuichi Minamino or Kurama. Yes, I do know about Reikai, Ningenkai, Makai, and all that good stuff. Yusuke told me all about it since I was his bud but I wasn't allowed to tell anyone, not even Christy, Tiara, or Dusty. In fact, the only way I got to know was because I caught him talking to Koenma on his communicator.

Anyway, back to before. Hiei dresses all in black except for his white bandana to cover his Jagan Eye and the bandage on his right arm to cover the mark of the Dragon. He's short, too, only a few inches taller than me, I'd guess 4'10". What really gives him away is his black hair with a white starburst that seems to defy gravity and his blood red eyes. I've seen him a couple other times talking to Yusuke before they left for a mission. He's supposedly a fire demon.

Kurama is your average everyday pretty boy, not stuck up or anything but he sure has the looks and fan club down. You got it. He has to run to escape crazed girls that chase him around. He has red hair that goes past his shoulders a little with strands that hang by his ears. His eyes are a gorgeous emerald green that I wish I had and, of course, he's taller than me. But isn't everybody? I've heard stories that he is the reincarnate of the kitsune thief Youko Kurama, but who knows if that's even true.

And I guess I've neglected to explain my two guy friends. Yusuke Urameshi is a punk with gelled black hair and chocolate eyes much like mine. At school he's usually seen in a green uniform but on the street, he wears jeans like the rest of us. He's kind of perverted at times and he's definitely mischievous with a "good boy" look that could fool a normal passerby but I know better as do Christy, Tiara, and Dusty. Yes, he is the spirit detective.

Kazuma Kuwabara is a butt ugly moron but for those who don't know, he has carrot orange hair styled in a horrible Elvis impersonation and dark eyes. He's a punk, too, but Urameshi can easily knock his face into the concrete. He walks around school in a blue uniform, but he has normal street clothes, too. He's a human but has a strong sixth sense.

Yusuke and Kuwabara go to Sarayashiki High along with Tiara, Dusty, Christy, and I. Kurama goes to fancy pants Meiou High a little ways away. Hiei doesn't go to school.

I stopped in front of my buddy and my other friends showed up soon after.

"Are you in a better mood today?" Yusuke asked.

"Oh yeah!" I answered smiling. "I can't wait to get out of this frickin' annoying skirt." I gestured to my stupid school uniform. "Plus school gets out tomorrow."

"Yipee skippy!" Christy cheered.

"Are you coming with us to the arcade?" Kuwabara asked.

"Duh," I answered shortly. My favorite pastime is playing video games.

"Are you coming?" Dusty asked Hiei and Kurama.

"Yes," answered Kurama.

We headed down the street but I stopped off at our (the girls') house so we could change because, like I said before, the skirts are a real suck fest to wear. Then we continued walking to the mall, but it wasn't too long before Kuwabara and Hiei got into a name calling contest. Obviously Hiei would win but it was still fun to see it play out.

"Midget," Kuwabara said.

"Hey, that includes me, I'm smaller than he is," I objected.

"Sorry, Shorty," the idiot apologized.

Hiei looked slightly surprised so I assumed that he had been called that before. To keep the fight going, I interjected, "He was talking to me, not you."

"Ugly ape," Hiei shot back to the oaf.

"If I'm ugly than what are you?" Kuwabara asked.

"Hn, at least I don't make gay men go straight," came the reply.

"Ooh, burn," chorused me and Christy.

I'm not quite sure what happened next but I think Kuwabara shoved Hiei, throwing him off balance. I was surprised that the slowpoke could even touch Hiei but I suppose he might not have been expecting it. I think his foot caught on my wheel and then I found a pissed black clad boy in my lap.

Hiei rose and I heard a sword being drawn. I grabbed the back of his cloak and he looked at me like he might behead me as well.

"Don't kill him just because he's Special Ed," I spoke. Then to save the poor boob's life, I quickly said, "Hey Clueless Morgan, I think the other ucky people are calling you."

I pointed to his other friends who were indeed calling to him. The drool monkey didn't even pick up on the insult as he walked across the street looking as though he was still trying to figure out who Special Ed was.

The dope (No, I don't call him Kuwabara very often) talked to the other guys from our school for a few minutes and then ran to catch up to us. Meanwhile, Yusuke and Christy were talking up ahead of all of us.

Christy suddenly turned to me and pleaded, "Kat, can I ride in your wheelchair?"

"How am I supposed to get to where we're going?" Normally I would let her but then I would have no mode of transportation to our destination.

Next, Yusuke flipped around and planted a foot in front of my wheel. I stopped abruptly and glared at him. He paid no attention and poked the orange button on my seat belt before yanking me out of my chair and hoisting me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Christy quickly took over my former position and commenced in wheeling off down the sidewalk at what I presumed was her top speed.

"Uh, Yusuke?" I muttered.

"Yeah?" came the answer.

"As much as I love the sigh of your butt in my face—" I propped my head away from his bum with my elbow in his back. "Will you please put me down?"

"Nope. Christy stole your wheels and you still owe me a rematch so this is how you're getting there."

_So stubborn!_ I sighed and settled for watching Hiei and Kurama who were both looking amused by the whole thing. I flipped them off and turned to Christy who had stopped short of a light pole and was now behind us.

"If you wreck my chair, I'll hurt you!" I yelled at her until Kurama chuckled and ruffled my hair. I cried out and swatted his hand away. "Ack! Away with you hair floofer!" He only smiled. He does that way too much.

We reached the mall, Christy returned my wheelchair, and Yusuke flopped me back over his shoulder and into my sitting position.

The boys led us straight to the arcade where Dusty challenged Kurama to some driving game that I couldn't play since I couldn't work the gas. Christy, Tiara, and Kuwabara went off to play DDR which I also couldn't do since I can't dance. Lucky for me, Yusuke pulled me over to the air hockey table just when I was tempted to go pester Hiei who had stalked off to a dark corner grumbling about 'loud, annoying ningen games." It wasn't so lucky for Yusuke, though, because in the end I won 3-2.

About the time that the third match was over, Christy, Tiara, and the moron showed up and challenged Urameshi to a game of pool. I went over to a corner of the room and spaced off. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends to death but sometimes you just gotta be alone, you know? Which for me and my unusual mood swings, is quite often. I also hate loud noises and that includes pool balls smacking together.

Once everyone was sick of games, we went off to eat. Christy ordered an extra large portion of bourbon chicken while I got some sweet and sour chicken and crab angels along with a large Pepsi. We had learned how to order enough to mix and match with in the time that we've known each other.

After we got full, we started for home. Christy and I share a house and volunteered to be a host home for Tiara and Dusty but you'll find out more about that later. Anyway, our house was the first stop but as we neared, something looked wrong. The door was open….

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**A/N:** Just so you know, I don't hate Kuwabara, I just like to pick on him. Sorry to any Kuwabara fans. Chapter 2 is also posted so feel free to take a look at that. The beginning chapters are kind of slow since they're mostly there to give the characters the chance to get to know each other. However, despite this, I would still appreciate it if you would leave a review. No flames please.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own YYH or Tomb Raider.

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**Chapter Two—Guardians **

"Hey, Kat," Christy addressed me. "You did lock it, right?"

I nodded.

Tiara opened the door and stepped back in surprise. The place was trashed.

"What the hell happened?" I demanded.

I entered cautiously and searched through the kitchen, den, and living room. Nothing was gone, just broken. I rolled to the stairs and climbed up, going to my room. It was a mess, too. There I found my albums all shredded except for one picture of my family. I whirled around to where Kurama and Hiei were now standing.

"You know who did this, don't you?"

The redhead nodded. "We can sense their remaining presence."

"Why did they do it?" Dusty asked, bringing in two torn albums and followed by Christy with half of one.

"I don't know but I bet binky breath does," Yusuke spat, going down the hall to call Botan and get us a portal.

We went downstairs with any identifiable pictures in hand and I climbed into my wheelchair. We had just gotten comfy in the living room when the bubbly, blue-haired, pink eyed Botan (an assistant Koenma and Yusuke) showed up to take us to Koenma's office.

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We all looked around the large office for any sign of where we were and the person we were to speak to.

"So who's the dorkfish we're supposed to see here?" Christy asked as she finished her survey of the room.

Someone cleared their throat and we looked down to see a baby standing in front of us with a pacifier and a blue hat that said 'Jr.' on it. I had prepared myself knowing someday that I would meet the pint-sized ruler but Christy was laughing.

Tiara picked up the baby and smiled. "Aw, you're so cute!"

"Put me down!" ordered Koenma.

Tiara was so shocked that the baby had just talked that she dropped him on the floor. Her expression along with Christy and Dusty's was priceless and I couldn't help it, I burst into a silent fit of laughter, all the while thinking _Shaken Baby Syndrome!_

Koenma rose and dusted himself off. "I am Koenma, Prince of Reikai," he told us. "And I am not a child. I am one hundred times older than any of you."

I easily regained my pissy composure. "So are you going to tell us who trashed our house or what?"

"I'll tell you what I know," said Koenma and went around his desk, climbing into his big chair. "It seems that whoever this person was, they were a shape shifter so we can't properly identify who he was. From what we could gather, he lost his memory somehow but remembered being an old family friend of the Wilson and Hunt families. He knew he had done something terrible but he couldn't remember what it was."

"So?" I persisted. That wasn't helpful at all. Our families had been friends for a while and had many acquaintances.

"So he came to your house to shred any evidence of who he might have been. Fortunately, none of you were home at the time."

"He would have shredded us, too?" cried Tiara.

"Well, yes, you would have known who he used to be," Koenma replied.

"Is this guy powerful?" was Christy's next question.

"No, not incredibly powerful but he is clever and he would have been able to kill you since you're normal humans." I snorted defiantly at that. Even if it was true, I wasn't going to admit it.

"And you're going to…?" Dusty inquired.

"You're not supposed to die because of him," Koenma told us. "So I will assign Guardians to you."

"As in Guardians who will sign legal documents and stuff?" Christy asked, not liking that idea. We had been taking care of ourselves just fine for a while now and it didn't need anyone to come in and run our lives for us.

"No, as in Guardians who protect us from bad guys, right?" I predicted from the diaper bag's expression.

"Yes, Katherine, that is correct."

"Call me Katherine again and I'll hit you so hard it'll really make you a baby again," I snarled and he shrank back. What did he expect? The last time I was called Katherine was by my parents.

"She likes Shorty," Yusuke informed him. Koenma nodded, trying to cool my temper.

"Just get on with it," Hiei piped up from the windowsill.

"Very well," said the small ruler. He looked to Christy. "You Guardian will be Kurama."

"Can't complain," Christy said as she smiled at the fox.

"Hiei, you will be Ka—uh, Shorty's Guardian."

"Hn, and if I refuse?"

Koenma's patience were not bountiful today. "Then I might suddenly remember that you tried to take over the three worlds and send you to prison." Hiei hardly seemed fazed so Koenma added, "And I might tell Yukina a certain secret…."

Hiei's expression changed instantly to one of anger. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would," Koenma said with a devious smirk. The black haired male's hand twitched dangerously near his katana but then he thought better of it. He came to stand by my side instead. Koenma went back to announcing who was with who.

"Now then, Tiara, Yusuke will be your Guardian and Dusty, I'm not sure who to put you with since I don't think you'll deal with Kuwabara very well. I'll leave it as your decision."

"I'm supposed to guard her?" Kuwabara whined.

"Unless you can find someone better. You all will be staying at Genkai's compound tonight," the Prince announced and then we were dismissed, Koenma speaking one last time as we were going through the portal. "Remember, boys, nothing can happen to them."

Botan took us to our house to get our stuff and Kurama left to go make up an excuse for his family as to why he would be gone for some time. He told us he would meet us at the temple and that's where Botan took us next.

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I stared at the long staircase that was my challenge ahead. It was not only hard getting through the forest to the compound but now it would be hard to also get inside.

Hiei glanced at me and then the staircase before he crouched in front of my wheelchair. With the command of "Come" and a gesture to get onto his back, I soon found a solution to the problem though I couldn't help but feel like a retard. Hiei didn't care one way or another and sprang up the steps, keeping a few feet ahead of the others

When we got inside, Hiei pulled me into a standing position as a young-looking girl with mint green hair and red eyes came from the kitchen followed by an old woman with faded pink hair and brown eyes. The girl was about the same size as Hiei but the old woman came to my chest. _Score! I'm taller than someone!_

"You must be Tiara, Dusty, Christy, and Katherine." I couldn't threaten this old woman so I just nodded along with the rest of our group. "I am Genkai, the owner of this compound."

The young girl stepped forward. "I am Yukina. If I can get you anything, please ask." I smiled, she was so cute and innocent-looking. Kind of like Tiara before I got a hold of her.

"How's my favorite dimwit?" Genkai asked as Yusuke entered.

"Not now, old hag," Yusuke said.

I grinned. "Oh come on. You can do better than 'dimwit'."

Genkai gave me a slight smirk. "And what should I call you?"

"Shorty," said stupid Kuwabara. "She'll deck you for anything else."

I looked back to the old woman. "I suppose you could call me Kat since you are my elder."_ Now how come I couldn't be like that to Koenma? Probably because I like Genkai's attitude better._ "You can call me Kat, too, Yukina." _And she's just too cute._

Genkai nodded and spoke to our Guardians, "You can have the spare rooms to share with the girls."

I didn't like the idea of sharing a room with Hiei but he _was_ supposed to protect me. And I wasn't about to die for a little more privacy. He picked me up again and went outside to another building that was apparently guest rooms. At the end of the hall was where he entered and found a bed on the right end of the room and a futon on the other. A changing stall was on the wall in the middle. Hiei dropped me on the bed and went to sit on the windowsill.

Observing him a little closer, I deduced what was so familiar about Yukina. "Yukina's your sister, huh?"

He glared at me. "Who told you?"

"No one. It's just that she looks a lot like you and she's quiet. Plus that thing Koenma said about a certain secret." He relaxed a minor amount and looked out the window. "Our families were killed—Christy and mine," I went on after a moment. _What? It had been eating at my heart for a while and Christy didn't like to talk about it. I had to tell someone!_

It got his attention. "How?"

"They all went on the same vacation: a cruise. Christy and I had some big tests for the end of the school year so we had to stay home and study. Something happened and the ship blew up but no one knows why." I flicked a fuzz off of the bed and laid down. "We've been living by ourselves ever since."

I took the picture from my pocket and tossed it in his direction. He briefly examined it and then flipped it back. I stayed silent.

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THIRD PERSON POV

_Hiei_, a voice sounded in the boy's head.

_What do you want, fox?_

_I found something about Guardians in one of my books I think you should hear. _

_Fine, I'm coming. _

Hiei opened the window and made a motion to jump out when Kat blurted, "You're leaving? Something could come eat me!"

He smirked at her reaction. "I'll return in a moment."

"But what if something does come to attack me?"

"I will sense it," he told her and jumped out the window. She relaxed a little knowing that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He couldn't, he had an obligation not to.

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At Kurama's house, a light tapping was heard on the window to the kitchen. His mother, father, and brother were asleep and the kitsune quietly opened the window.

"What is it?" Hiei asked.

"Have you wondered why Koenma named us Guardians instead of just ordering us to protect the girls?"

"No," Hiei replied shortly.

"Well, I did and so I looked it up. He did it so that nothing _could_ happen to the girls because we would be bound to the girls. Listen to this," Kurama said, beginning to read from a book. "A Guardian is one who is assigned specifically to protect one and only one person. Once named a Guardian, the protector and the protected are bound together until the Guardian is relieved of duty. However, often times, the two do not separate because their bonds have drawn them into a more intimate relationship."

"So?" Hiei said unaffected by the information.

"Think about it, Hiei," said Kurama. "We were already close to these girls and now we're growing more attached. There was an attraction as soon as we were named Guardians. Look at Tiara and Yusuke. Even you are closer to Kat, as I am to Christy."

"Shorty," Hiei corrected.

"Hiei," Kurama sighed exasperatedly.

"This was a waste of my time," insisted Hiei. "I will not fall in love with a baka, burdensome ningen onna. I will be the first to prove that book wrong."

That said, he disappeared in a black blur.

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**A/N:** That's right, there will be some romance in this story, but not for a while and I will try to keep everyone in character as much as possible so don't worry.

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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**Chapter Three—Unexpected Company**

~KAT'S POV~

Typical last day of school. Yep, my brain had shut down before I even entered the school building and right now I was being lectured about how if I didn't pay attention, I wouldn't last long in the real world. Who did Mr. Akashi think I was? Yusuke? I had long ago tuned the beaver-toothed, sorry excuse for a teacher out.

Throughout the day I had spotted Hiei outside in a tree whenever there was a window available. He was a rather good Guardian, almost like he had done it before. He wasn't the only one, though. Yusuke hadn't left Tiara's side the entire day, even convincing Tiara to skip a few classes they didn't have together. _It's a good thing Keiko transferred to another school in Kyoto. _

Kuwabara, too, had kept near to Dusty but at the same time had kept at a safe distance. It was a funny thing to watch—one of the worst punks at Sarayashiki, frightened of a fourteen year old girl while Dusty seemed to be having fun with the arrangements. Christy on the other hand was _not_ having fun. She was quite pissed that she was forced to go to school without her Guardian. That's what Kurama gets for being so smart.

The bell rang and Mr. Akashi hurriedly finished his lecture, though I wasn't too sure what he was still lecturing about since I was already out the door.

I burst out the exit doors and slid down the ramp chanting, "No more papers, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks!" Hiei dropped down beside me, almost causing me to jump out of my skin and I was going to yell at him, but that would ruin my good mood so I just laughed it off.

Tiara was nowhere to be found but when Christy zipped past me and over to the oak, I realized she was standing over there talking with Yusuke, Kurama, and two other guys I didn't recognize. I didn't hesitate to approach, but then I noticed something out of the norm with these two.

The first was tall with short, shaggy red hair and dancing blue eyes. He laughed at every little thing like he thought the whole world was a joke. His clothes were white and in the style of a shirt—that was more of an 'x' of white cloth—and pants combo. That wasn't what was strange about him. No, it was the small horn poking out of the top of his head.

The second guy was a tad shorter than the first. He, too, had shaggy red hair but his eyes were a golden color that glowed with happiness, though he kept himself more composed than the other. He was dressed in regular street clothes, the only thing standing out about his outfit being the bright green belt with the four-leafed clover. The unusual thing about him was the faint outline of a pair of tattered, translucent butterfly wings extending from his back.

"Hey, Shorty," Yusuke greeted me.

I nodded in acknowledgement and looked around at the students who were excitedly fleeing the school to see if they, too, noticed the odd characteristics of the boys. A few were eyeing the outfit of the taller redhead but no one was questioning if they were human or not.

Yusuke poked my shoulder. "You still with us?"

"Yeah, I'm just still spacey from Akashi's lecture. He must think I'm a relative of yours or something."

The taller of the new guys laughed at me and bent down to my level. "Hiya, lass. Me name's Jin 'n' this is me cousin." His voice was laid with a thick Irish accent.

The other stepped forward and spoke in the same accent, "I'm Thomas Tayg, most just call me Tayg."

I hurriedly shook their hands. "Nice to meet you. Uh, Yusuke? Why are there two non-humans at our school?"

"They're your Guardians," Kuwabara responded cluelessly.

"Not Hiei and Kurama, you dumbo, these two." I jerked a thumb at Jin and Tayg.

"_Non_-humans?" Dusty repeated. They couldn't see the oddities either?

"Come on, we'll explain on the way to Genkai's. Jin wants a rematch," Yusuke told us.

"What for?" Tiara asked as we walked out of the school grounds, not to return until another year began.

* * *

"So you met him at the Dark Tournament?" I clarified.

"And he wants a rematch because you beat him up," Christy went on.

"And he is an Irish Wind Lord and Tayg is from a fairy clan," Dusty said and turned to Tayg. "Where were you while your cousin was losing?"

"I've been 'ere in Ningenkai, getting' away from all th' bloodshed from wars back home. As a fairy, I'm not too fond o' it. 'N it's given me a chance t' work on my illusions, so no one could see me 'n' Jin's true forms 'til I says so."

Jin suddenly stopped like he was listening to something, his long pointy ears twitching. "D'ya hear tha', Tayg?"

His cousin nodded. "Aye," he agreed, looking at Dusty. "Th' wind sure be likin' ya, too." Dusty smiled.

We reached the compound and Hiei hoisted me onto his back. Since it was the last day of school, we weren't required to wear our uniforms so I wasn't hesitant about straddling the black clad boy.

Yusuke led around to the back of the compound where we found Genkai meditating. The detective explained our activities and then we went to the training area leaving no room for argument.

Of course, Yusuke had to crack a joke before the fight. "Kuwabara, don't forget to guard Dusty from Tayg if Jin and me kill each other."

"You're not really going to fight that hard, are you, Urameshi?" the dummy asked.

"And once again he turns into Captain Oblivious," I called out. Hiei smirked when the carrot top turned around and gave me an offended look.

"Guard? Whacha guardin' 'er fer, Urameshi?" Jin asked in his heavily accented voice.

"Not me, I'm guarding Tiara. Kuwabara has to guard Dusty unless we can find someone else to take his position," Yusuke explained.

"I'd gladly be in yer place, Kuwabara," Tayg said jokingly but Kuwabara ignored the hint of mock.

"Go right ahead and take it, Tayg. She likes you better anyway," Kuwabara suggested. Dusty opened her mouth in surprise but Tayg beat her to the first word.

"Sure. I dunna 'ave anythin' t' keep me from it."

Hiei and Kurama shared a strange look and then turned back to the fighters. I wanted to know what the look meant but a fight seemed more interesting at the time. Hiei apparently thought so, too, as he put me on the ground so he could follow the fight better.

Yusuke and Jin took their stances and then attacked at the same time. They both were blown away by punches from the other and Jin took to the air. He flew up so high that I lost sight of him but all of the boys seemed to still be able to see him. I kept watching and he soon appeared again, dropping through the air at drastic speeds straight toward Yusuke.

Yusuke back flipped away just as Jin would have hit him and instead, the Irishman impacted with the ground. He only laughed at this and stood up commenting that Yusuke had gotten faster since their last fight, but added that he also had some new tricks.

He began spinning very quickly and then shot into the air, sending a tornado spinning towards the detective. The raven haired teen didn't even spare a thought to the idea of running, but instead of running _away_ from the tornado, he ran straight into it. The twister spun him up and then a wave of energy (I could only tell it was a wave of energy because a wind blew past me) rocketed him up to Jin's level.

Once he had a clear shot at the Wind Lord, Yusuke held out his hands as if he were holding a pistol and the index finger on his right hand began to glow a light blue. Jin's face became one of surprised realization but he didn't have a chance to move as Yusuke yelled, "Spirit Gun!" and a beam of light shot from his finger and met its target in Jin's chest. Jin wasn't down for the count yet, though. He sprang right back up and Yusuke engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

The fight went on like this for quite some time. It amazed me how boys could entertain themselves for so long with simply beating the crap out of each other but finally Yusuke got tired of it. As Jin once again took to the sky, he smirked and got into a ready stance to initiate the plan that had apparently formed in his head.

Jin again appeared after a moment, dropping out of the sky like a stone directly toward my friend.

Yusuke didn't move and instead drew his fist back, charging it so that it glowed a light blue like his finger had earlier. As soon as Jin drew close enough—I noticed both of his fists spinning in a tornado motion—Yusuke threw his fist forward shouting, "Shotgun!" A shower of blue bullets exploded from his fist, colliding with various parts of Jin.

The Wind Lord was knocked out of the air and onto his back. It looked as though Yusuke was the victor until he, too, collapsed in exhaustion.

"Hey, Jin," he shakily called to the Irishman. "You got any energy left?"

"Nah, ya got me pretty good that time, Urameshi," Jin called back.

And then both went unconscious. I sighed in disappointment that there was no definite victor after all the time we spent sitting here and watching.

"I guess that's what you would call a draw," said Dusty. Tayg nodded and walked over to retrieve his cousin while Kuwabara went over to Yusuke, slinging the detective over his shoulder. Hiei lifted me up onto his back and then we all started back to the compound.

As we walked, I finally got up the courage to speak to Tayg a little more. "You're probably going to stay here now, right?"

"You will be required to stay since you agreed to Guardianship," Kurama informed the fairy.

"Oh sure, but don't ye think I should take this guy home first?" Tayg asked, gesturing to his cousin.

"I bet he could stay here until he wakes up. Genkai won't mind another guest," I supplied.

"Well, if ye say so, lass. Who could turn down that offer?"

* * *

Tayg, Jin, and Dusty were given a different room from the one Dusty had shared with Kuwabara. The Guardian and his charge had stayed with Jin hoping he would wake up soon but that didn't work out. Dusty came in an hour later and complained that if Jin didn't wake up soon so that Tayg would leave his bedside, the fairy wouldn't be much help to her. Then she took a snack and returned to the bedroom.

Christy, Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Tiara set up the PS2 and Kurama, of course, was nearby. Hiei decided that he was also in for a snack and took me to the kitchen where I was put on a stool. He took a quart-sized carton from the freezer and grabbed a spoon from the silverware drawer. I looked at the label and read: _Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream_.He noticed my gaze and then looked to the carton in his hand. He then grabbed another spoon from the drawer and handed it to me. Ningens had to eat, too, after all.

I only would ended up eating about a quarter of the carton and then I got serious brain freeze. Hiei only smirked at my pain and finished the rest of the container himself. His fetish for ice cream—or "sweet snow", as he called it—was cute and I made it my goal to share the Chocoholic flavor at the mall with him.

Yukina came in and smiled her sweet smile at us. She has just finished her chores around the compound and I offered to help her with dinner. Hiei sat in the windowsill after having finished his snack and watched me cut vegetables. After I finished my task, Hiei took me from the kitchen so I'd be out of the way. I think he was just worried about me being around his sister. He had told, no, ordered me not to tell her about his being her brother because it would 'taint her innocence' or something like that. It was a simple matter of trust—not that that is ever a simple matter—but I had not yet gained his.

Kurama smiled as we walked through the living room and toward the bedrooms. He informed us that Jin had awakened and that he and Tayg were both succeeding in entertaining Dusty.

Once in our bedroom, Hiei flopped me on the bed and then went to—you guessed it—the windowsill. It was then that I noticed the stereo on the shelf beside my bed. _When did that get there? Oh well. I don't really want to sit here in silence with Hiei._

"Would you get really pissy if I turned on some music?" I asked my roommate. He spared me a glance and then turned back to the window. You know, with all the time that I've been spending with this guy I've realized that he's the kind of person that can be rude just by being there. "Well then I'm gonna."

'_Cause I'm broken  
__When I'm lonesome  
And I don't feel right  
__When you're gone away._

"Yay! Seether!"

My squeal attracted not only Hiei's attention but Dusty, Jin, and Tayg had entered the room to join in my merrymaking. The next song was Pain by Three Days Grace and Dusty sang along with me. Jin and Tayg were giving us genuine Irish grins, but Hiei looked extremely annoyed. We ignored him and also sang along to Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous by Good Charlotte.

About this time, Christy also entered and demanded that I come play Red Faction with her while Yusuke and Kuwabara were arguing about some trivial thing. But it didn't take Christy long to get tired of Red Faction also, since I had learned all the winning tricks from my brothers and she was just a beginner.

Once she left me to go find Kurama, I turned on Tomb Raider, drawing Yusuke's attention with the theme music. He plopped on the floor beside me, not because he particularly liked the game, but because he was really interested in Lara's "bozooms". Hey, that's Yusuke for you.

I got to a level called The Cistern and then felt that it was time for bed. Hiei and I went upstairs and I curled up in my bed and Hiei laid his katana near his futon so that he could reach it if we had anymore unexpected visitors. I assumed we didn't since I slept like a baby.

* * *

The next morning, Hiei was not in the room so I quickly dressed without use of the changing stall. Once I was finished and took a look at my black ensemble, I laughed at the idea of matching Hiei.

I looked up from trying to find my other boot when I heard someone step into the room to find Hiei there, a towel wrapped around his waist. His usually spiky hair was now limp and only stuck up in a couple places. I would have laughed out loud but he gave me the granddaddy of all glares so I rolled over and hid my face in my pillow.

When he was dressed, he chucked my other boot at me that I had somehow tossed across the room when I took it off last night. I tied it on and then had Hiei take me to the bathroom to straighten my hair.

* * *

"Ningens take too long on their hair," Hiei sighed after twenty minutes.

"Well, not all of us like our hair to stick up _that_ far," I replied, pointing to his hair in the mirror. Lucky for him, I only had a few more kinks to work out and then we went downstairs for breakfast.

Dusty and Tayg came down soon after we did followed by Jin. Yusuke and Kuwabara were still sleeping, along with Christy I assumed, once Kurama and Tiara came down the hall by themselves.

"How late does Christy usually sleep in?"

"About like Yusuke and stupid head," I answered around a mouthful of breakfast. "Go tell her there's a big spider in her bed. That'll get her up." I don't think he took my advice since I didn't hear any loud screams.

The rest of the morning consisted of Jin, Tayg, Dusty, Tiara, and I telling jokes and trying to keep ourselves entertained until the rest of our group joined us. Around noon, Botan and Kuwabara's older sister Shizuru arrived.

"Where's Yusuke?" Botan asked.

"And my dumb little bro," added Shizuru. I didn't notice she was there at first since she had lingered outside to finish her cigarette.

"Sleeping," replied Tiara.

"_Still_?" Botan asked.

"Give 'em a break, guys. They kind of worked at the end of the year and they actually went to their classes. This is the first morning they didn't have to get up early," I defended my friends. Yes, even though Kuwabara is dumber than a rock, he is still my friend.

"Hey, didn't you compete against Yusuke in the Dark Tournament?" Shizuru wondered to Jin.

"Yep, he wanted a rematch against Yusuke and he brought his cousin Tayg with him," said Dusty.

Botan tilted her head to the side and gave Dusty a smile that looked all too knowing to me, but when I asked her about it, she said that it was nothing and volunteered to take Jin home. There were no mushy goodbyes between the two Irishmen, although Tayg did give a message to Jin to deliver to Tayg's family. I was still wondering what secrets were being kept even after I turned Tomb Raider back on.

* * *

That night Koenma called for us. I felt like Yusuke as we went into the office grumbling about not wanting to see the toddler.

"Hi again, Your Royal Hiny-ness," I greeted the miniature ruler.

He didn't hear me since he was too preoccupied with why there was an extra person in his office.

"Tayg agreed to be my Guardian," Dusty remarked shortly, tired of repeating the reason over and over.

Koenma nodded in approval. "I see. Well, I called you all to tell you that the person that is now searching for you has sent scouts into the city. From now on, everyone is a suspect."

"So?" I persisted. He already gave us Guardians. What more was he going to do? He seemed to hesitate which made me mad but before I could make a smart remark, he continued.

"I have an idea but you four will have to go through some changes. I will leave the decision up to you and your Guardians."

"What kind of changes?" Tiara asked.

"We would be sending you to Makai so we'd have to give you an operation to conceal your true identities."

"What?" all of us exclaimed.

"Yes, you heard right. We couldn't just send four humans into Makai. It would be like a beacon. It's hard enough with just one," Koenma told us, shooting a pointed glance at Kuwabara.

"How 'r' ye goin' t' go about changin' the lasses, Koenma?" Tayg asked.

"It's kind of hard to explain," said the prince. A triple glare from Yusuke, Hiei, and I pushed him onward. "We take the four girls themselves and kind of make a copy of them that we can add new features to and then implant it into their bodies so that they can have second forms. Does that make sense?"

We all nodded.

"But like I said, the decision is up to you and your Guardians." Almost after the last word of that sentence was said, Dusty, Christy, and Tiara turned to consult their Guardians, but Koenma continued to speak—just to me. "As another deciding factor, Shorty, we believe that there is a good chance that after this procedure, you'll be able to walk using the strength of your new form."

That settled it, I was in. I figured Hiei wouldn't have any objection (Why would he? I would be able to walk and he wouldn't have to carry me anymore!), but I decided to ask just to be on the safe side. I poked his shoulder.

"Any advice?" I asked him.

"Don't get yourself killed," he said.

"So you don't care if I do it?"

"Hn."

Dusty almost had Tayg convinced it would be alright and Yusuke seemed to have given in to Tiara's pout, but Christy and her fox Guardian were still disputing.

"I'm going," I announced loud enough that Koenma could hear me over the talking.

The arguments stopped all together and everyone looked my way.

"Me too," said Tiara.

"Well, if Tiara and Katie are then I am, too," Dusty insisted.

"Yeah, me too," Christy said to Kurama more than the rest of us in a tone that signaled finality.

"Now there's the matter of what breed," Koenma said after a moment.

"I want to be a leopard!" Dusty cried without hesitation.

"Hmm….I think I want to be a fox. I'm foxy, right Koenma?" I said.

"Yes….wait, what?" The prince had been writing at the time of the question and had not heard. My other female companions broke into laughter and Tayg doubled over, hands on his knees for support. Yusuke and Kuwabara were almost rolling on the floor laughing while Kurama was hiding his laughter behind his hand and Hiei was smirking.

Koenma shook his head and continued writing. When all was calm again, he looked at Christy who decided on being a wolf. Then he looked to Tiara.

"Um," she said in uncertainty. "Uh…I don't know….I want to be…." She looked at all of us for suggestions and then knew exactly what she wanted to be when she caught sight of Tayg's wings. "I want to be like Tayg!"

"A fairy?" clarified Koenma. "Are you sure? Fairies are not a common species. It won't be easy."

"Yeah, I want to be a fairy," declared Tiara.

"Alright. You all will have to ready for sugery by six tomorrow morning." Koenma seemed a little concerned of our decisions but when none of us backed out, he looked in my direction. "Shorty, I believe you know the working of the procedure."

"Yeah, yeah, no food or drink after midnight. That also means no breakfast or snacks and if we brush our teeth, we better make sure not to swallow anything. We have to be here an hour early for prep—weight, pulse, blood count, stuff like that. And prepare to be uncomfortable when you wake up."

* * *

**A/N:** I never realized how hard it was to write an Irish accent until I had to put Jin and Tayg into the story. But I am very proud of how well I dealt with it and I had a lot of fun inventing a cousin for Jin. There was some more humor in this chapter which I'm always happy to add. Sometimes it's a little less obvious than at other times, but you readers are smart, I'm sure you'll catch it.

The plot is unfolding a little at a time, I'd appreciate it if you guys would tell me what you think.

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

**

**Chapter Four—Creating Ourselves**

I was currently snoozing on a white bed in a Reikai hospital that Koenma sent us to. It was early and all of the charges were either dozing on the shoulders of their Guardians or hogging beds to themselves (me and Dusty) while a doctor spoke to the boys. I had began listening to the conversation but then thought better of it since I didn't really want to know the details and went to sleep.

There was a paining knot in my stomach and all the white in the room made me feel really cold so I was soon too uncomfortable to continue my sleeping. I kept the doctors tuned out by occupying myself with playing with the ruffles in the blankets and wondering why I had actually decided to put myself through this again.

_I never thought I would have to come back._

The only thing I was thankful for was that we were allowed to stay in our street clothes instead of changing into those stupid hospital gowns. After all, it was the Reikai and they were far more advanced than the medical services in Ningenkai._ Maybe this would be easier than we thought. ….Yeah, I only wish._

Now the doctors departed from our "happy" group and disappeared through the double doors to go prepare for the upcoming procedure. We would be going back all too soon. We were left in the drone of monitors and children and babies crying when they got poked with needles. At least I wasn't the only one suffering. As mean as that sounds, it really did make me feel better.

Hiei came to the side of the bed as I propped up against the bedrail with my pillow so I could watch what was going on. "Are you afraid?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "I'm nervous. I won't be scared until I get back there." He cocked a brow but said no more, sensing that I wouldn't want to talk about it.

Seconds passed and I sighed in agitation. "Well, time to count the tiles on the ceiling…."

But I didn't get very far. A minute later, several nurses entered our curtained area wheeling two more beds and then we were all taken through the double doors where the doctors had disappeared.

A couple turns later, my friends and I were split up, each of us giving a 'good luck' before we went out of sight. _Always the same_, I thought, watching the lights on the ceiling until we came to the end of the hall and went past another set of double doors. Even the operating room looked like all the other ones I had been to.

I'm fairly certain my friends and I all went to sleep the same way—transferring to the operating table and breathing oxygen until the laughing gas turned on.

As soon as the first puff of laughing gas came, I was ready to go home. Hiei was by my side and I knew he could sense my fear but it was too late to turn back now.

When I spied a nurse preparing a needle from the corner of my eye, a tear made a trail down my cheek to the foam pillow under my head. "Now I'm scared," I mumbled into the mask over my mouth. Hiei didn't smirk or make any comment about what a baby I was being. He was just expressionless.

I breathed the foul smelling gas again and felt my fingertips start to tingle. On the fifth breath, objects started to look pixilated and had colorful outlines. There was a loud ringing in my ears like a deep silence had been initiated but when the doctor asked me if I was getting spacey, he sounded far away and his voice echoed in my mind. A bright light was switched on over me and the room seemed even whiter if that was at all possible.

It felt like a bee had stung my hand and I felt cold travel up from the vein in my hand. _The first IV_, I told myself. My eyelids felt like two ton weights and Hiei's face wouldn't come into focus.

Words tried to come from my mouth but I no longer had control over my lips and the only sound that would come out was a whimper.

A hand rested on mine. I knew it was him but I didn't know why he would be comforting me, it wasn't in his nature to be that way. I couldn't feel the extra heat either.

Finally, everything else was gone and I was graced with a deep sleep.

* * *

~THIRD PERSON POV~

Yusuke paced back and forth in the waiting room. _Eight and a half hours they have been in there. Those lousy doctors should be done by now._

"Sit down," Hiei commanded. "Your impatience isn't going to end the surgery any sooner."

The detective flopped in a chair. "If they don't hurry up, I'm gonna go in there and raise hell."

"And what would that accomplish, Yusuke?" Kurama asked, calm as usual.

Yusuke huffed and slouched more in his chair. _It would make me feel better. _

* * *

~AN HOUR LATER/MY POV~

I felt myself being pulled back from the dark void of unconsciousness and heard a small voice call, "Katherine, Katherine."

"Shorty," I muttered. "Not Katherine."

The nurse laughed quietly. I tried to open my eyes and when they finally obeyed, everything was still fuzzy from the lubricant they would have put in my eyes to keep them from drying out.

"Where's Hiei?" My voice was weak and raspy.

"Out in the hall. Now that you're awake I'll go get him."

I blinked rapidly trying to rid my sight of the lubricant but it was unsuccessful. I could still only make out a black form when Hiei came to the side of the bed.

"Hey," I greeted. "Do I look like hell?" I'm not sure but I think he rolled his eyes.

"Am I in the recovery—" My voice cracked. "—recovery room or the ICU."

"Recovery," Hiei answered as he leaned on the bedrail. "Hn, but you won't be for long. They're going to move you up to a room shortly. They procedure didn't exhaust your body enough to send you to the….ICU."

"Christy, Tiara, and Dusty? Where are they?"

"There's one on either side of you and another in the next cubicle over."

I smiled weakly. As long as they were alright, that's all that really mattered. Yeah, I'm not as dark as I make out to be sometimes. With that reassurance in mind, I unknowingly drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

I was moved up to a room that same day and I think my friends were, too. I slept a lot for the first two days following the surgery but I did wake several times when the nurses came to take vitals, although I did sometimes sleep through even that. They also made sure I had lots of fluids and Hiei made sure I drank them all.

The third day I stayed awake a lot more except for when Hiei left to find the other Guardians and check on my friends for me. They were in the same state I was—kind of loopy and disoriented but other altogether in great condition.

My time awake also gave me the chance to examine my various bandages; I couldn't wait to take them off and see how I looked. When I had asked Hiei about what my changes would be, he said he didn't know except for my eyes and that I now had fangs. Even then, he wouldn't explain those changes to me either.

My head was also bandaged and really itchy. I could only imagine how stupid I looked. My left leg was bandaged as well and appeared way bigger than the other one. I was getting quite flustered with all my pondering and turned my attention to wondering what parts of my friends were bandaged and what they would look like.

A couple specialists of varying species entered my room that afternoon and interrupted my thinking—Thank goodness because I was about to pull one of those bandages right off.

"The doctor told us that you should be well enough to test your legs," one female with blonde hair said.

I was into a sitting position before you could blink and swinging my legs over the edge only to feel dismay when I saw that my feet still looked as though they had no support, toes pointing down.

"They don't look any different," I claimed. I tried to wiggle my toes but they wouldn't respond. "I can't feel my toes either."

The male hummed. "That may take more time to develop but the nerves in your legs could still be functioning even though your feet still need support. Let's try to stand you up."

I slid to the floor, planted my feet neatly on the tiled floor, and released my hold on the bedrail. My legs were supporting my weight and I was standing alright so I attempted to take a step….

And the floor rushed up to meet me. Hiei caught my waist before I greeted the hard tile with my face and then lifted me back onto the bed. His expression looked as disappointed as mine although his was quite a bit more subtle than mine.

"Fools," he spat at the specialists. "Your renovations on her are as good as your brains and hospital food."

The two glanced uneasily at each other which did not restore my hope but I tried to sound like I still had faith.

"Now wait a minute." I slid from the bed and balanced on my feet again. "Maybe it will just take some practice to strengthen the improvements."

As soon as the last word escaped my mouth, I collapsed and was saved once more by Hiei. The specialists excused themselves to go talk to the doctor about the news but I wasn't about to give up.

An hour later found me still trying to make my legs work and struggling not to cry at the grim truth that the operation had not given me the ability to walk. I could only hope that the operation wasn't a total loss and I could still pass off as a citizen of Makai.

Hiei had long ago grown tired of running to catch me before I met the floor and had pulled a chair up behind me. One leg was crossed over the other with his foot propped behind me so that he could catch me without moving at all. It wasn't until I had sunk to the floor in despair that he finally stood up.

He scooped me up and again replaced me in the hospital bed that I was quickly getting sick of being confined to. Then he hopped up to sit beside me and clicked on the TV before nestling into the pillows with me to watch some reality TV show.

He hadn't uttered a word but I still felt better, even if it was a very small increment's worth.

* * *

I woke up shivering so hard my muscles ached from trying to squeeze the warmth out. I looked over to the window seat/bed where my Guardian was and saw his black form still in the same position he had fallen asleep in.

"H-Hiei! ….Hiei!" I called.

His head lifted from where it had been leaning on his chest. He stood and came to the edge of the bed, setting his katana in the rocking chair.

"Hn, what do you need, onna?" he asked.

"I'm cold."

He looked down to the foot of the bed. I had all my blankets already on me. Then he nodded as if coming to a decision and dropped the bedrail and took off his boots. _What is he doing?_

I sure didn't expect him to lay in the same bed as me but that's what he did. He laid on his side and stretched his arm across me and tucked his fingers under my other arm. Heat rushed throughout my small figure and relaxed my hurting muscles so quickly that I let out a contented sigh.

"Sleep," he gently ordered, his face right where my ear should have been but for some reason, his voice sounded as if it came from somewhere lower than that.

I didn't put anymore thought into it since I was already long gone.

* * *

~KURAMA'S POV~

Christy had been sleeping almost non-stop since she had gotten moved up here and I missed her conversation, but mostly I was concerned. Kat, Tiara, and Dusty had awakened at least once and asked about each other but when Christy awoke, she asked for me and then went right back to sleep.

While I waited for her to wake again, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands to think. It was kind of ironic how much I liked books and now the girl I was falling in love with was writing several and had many poems already published.

I had also conversed with Youko several times since we had been named her Guardian. He liked her just as much as I and he had made his thoughts perfectly clear about how great he thought she would look in her new wolf form.

As I gazed at her, her mouth twitched and then widened into a smile.

"Hey Kurama," she said quietly. I went to her side when she made a move to sit up and then dizziness overtook her. It's a good thing I was there or she may have fallen over the edge of the bed.

"I'm hungry." _Of course, she would be the one to say that after surgery instead of checking on her friends._

"You should be," I agreed. "What would you like? Something that won't be too hard on your stomach."

"Jello?"

I nodded and raised the top of the bed so she wouldn't fall again before I turned to leave. She caught my hand.

"Are Tiara and Kat and Dusty okay?"

I smiled. "They're fine. We were more concerned about you since you only woke once."

She grinned sheepishly and rubber her head. "I was really tired."

That was when she noticed that her head was bandaged.

"What happened to my teeth?" she asked, running her tongue over her upper set of teeth.

"Nothing, you just have fangs now," I answered.

"What do I look like?"

"You look like you only your eyes are a different color and you have fangs. That's all I know, the rest of your changes are wrapped up."

"Okay, well, what do my eyes look like?"

I shook my head tauntingly. It was so much fun to tease her. She narrowed her eyes at me and I quickly left the room to find her some Jello.

* * *

~DUSTY'S POV~

I was watching Tayg float cross-legged in the air by my bed while trying to figure out how he could concentrate enough to do that and sleep at the same time. He was smiling a little even in his sleep.

He really was cute even if a little childish at times. But he took good care of me and made me laugh and that's what I liked best about him. He could also be serious, though, like when Katie told him about her and Christy's families.

The smile on his face grew to one of his famous grins. "Ye be awake now, Dusty?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"Ya be needin' anythin'?"

"Yeah, information. Have you seen anybody we know?" I asked.

Tayg thought a minute. "Well th' dark lil' fire youkai stopped by this afternoon while you were sleepin' 'n' said Shorty was worried about ya. I haven't seen th' fox boy fer a while. Not since he came 'n' said Christy was still sleepin'."

I frowned._ How long was she going to sleep like that?_

Just then Kurama stepped into the room. I raised my head and looked at him questioningly.

He nodded. "She's awake now and is eating Jello as we speak."

I smiled. _Finally!_

My smiling had cracked my dried lips and I went to lick them but my tongue caught on some foreign pokey thing in my mouth.

"What the heck is that?" I asked aloud, touching it with my index finger which, by the way, was also bandaged. "I have fangs now? Sweet! What else is different?"

"Ye're eyes are diff'rnt."

"How?"

Tayg grinned at Kurama. "We agreed not t' tell ya."

* * *

~TIARA'S POV~

"You're mom's a drunk? That's so sad," I said once Yusuke had finished telling me about his history.

"Not really. She's a real good time at the bars and karaoke joints, I hear."

"But she's your _mom_," I stressed.

"So? What do I need a mom for?" Yusuke scoffed as he leaned back on the foot of the bed. "I've already raised myself to the point of manhood and I turned out fine. There are a lot of people out there who are like me. Look at Shorty and Christy."

"You're only fourteen. Every fourteen year old still needs their mom."

"Yeah? For what?" He sat up again and took my hand. "Look, T, I understand that you're trying to rebuild the relationship between me and my mom but think about it this way: When I was trying to get back from Reikai, where was my mom? Out at a bar. She left my body at home, alone and defenseless and when the house caught on fire, there was no one there to save me until Keiko showed up. My mom isn't exactly the kind of person that I would want to put faith in."

I took this into account and decided that I understood his reasons not to be concerned for his mother's safety when he was out on these missions. I didn't agree with his decision, mind you, but at least now I understood why.

"So what happened between you and Keiko?" I asked at length.

"Oh, nothing too terrible. She just got transferred to a better junior high in Kyoto which is connected with a high school so once she graduates junior high, she's guaranteed a good higher education. I couldn't go because I obviously wasn't smart enough and why would I want to go all the way to Kyoto when I have it good right here?"

I shifted a little. "Kuwabara said that you told her you loved her. You just gave her up because you didn't want to move?"

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Alright, you got me. You see, Keiko told me that she accepted me for who and what I was. But after I got back from the Makai and the Tournament that decided who the next king would be, she started acting weird. I thought it was just because she hadn't seen me in a while. But then she told me that I should just settle down, give up my heritage and the Spirit Detective gig and go be 'normal' with her. That was after I was fired but Koenma needed me too badly so he got me back."

He snorted. "Normal. Yeah, as if we could ever be normal after all we've been through. I liked what I was doing here, I liked my job. Plus all our friends were here and Genkai was here, too. She just expected me to give that up. Is that the kind of person you would want me to end up with?"

"I guess not. ….You know, I never thought of you as the sentimental type. I didn't think your teacher and your friends were that important to you."

"Well you wouldn't. You just now came into the mix and you don't know all the adventures we've had together. Kat knows and she's helped me survive high school even though I'm gone a lot. Kurama and Kuwabara are awesome friends and Hiei even has my back. And yeah, Genkai can be a crusty old bitch but she's more of a mom than my mom ever was. She looks out for me, you know? I couldn't leave that behind."

"No, you couldn't."

He flashed me a grin. "And now, you're here. There's no way I could pass that up."

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and opened one eye slightly to see a nurse onna smiling at me. I recognized her as one of the good ones that took care of her patients not the ones that careless in their haste to get out of here.

"Can I have this arm?" she asked, pointing to the one I had a grip on.

She wrapped one of those cuffs around my charge's arm and turned on the machine to take her blood pressure. Shorty moaned when the squeezing cuff slowed the circulation in her arm and she opened her eyes to look at the nurse who was writing the results on her clipboard. Then she took out a thermometer and Shorty turned her head toward me, allowing access to her ear. This was a usual routine and was getting old.

"Her fever's gone down," the nurse told me since Shorty had already gone back to sleep. "But she still has a small one." Then she left the room.

It wasn't too long after she had exited and all was quiet again that someone dropped a tray out in the hall causing Shorty's whole body to jerk. She opened her eyes, narrowed them at the door, groaned loudly, and closed them again. I don't really think she saw me next to her in her fever-induced haze, however, and I unintentionally went rigid when she buried her face into my shoulder.

I didn't move for fear of waking her again but I didn't sleep either. The only thing I could do to refrain from injuring the onna was remind myself that it wouldn't be long before she met her new form and then we could get on with our job until her pursuer was caught. Then I wouldn't have to deal with her anymore.

* * *

~MY POV/THE NEXT DAY~

"Alright, let's see how you turned out," Koenma said. Botan had brought a mirror in so we could see how we looked and she was bouncing with anticipation. She and Tiara looked a lot alike at this point.

"Who's first?" Yusuke asked.

I raised my hand. "I volunteer—" I pointed to a friend. "—Tiara to be the one to go first."

Tiara shrugged and excitedly approached the mirror. She hadn't changed at all really except that we discovered this morning that she can control the elements. She had sneezed and blown Botan's kimono almost over her head. I think it's easy for anyone to guess that the reason we were late to Koenma's office was because of the laughing fit we had afterward.

Yusuke untied the knot to the bandage that wrapped her torso and Tiara took a deep breath before unraveling the whole thing.

A few people gasped but most everyone had their mouths open when a pair of glossy black and orange butterfly wings uncurled from our friend's back and fanned out to about the same size as Tayg's. The Irishman, on the other hand, looked like he had expected this change and was grinning from ear to ear. Tiara was just as happy and threw herself on Yusuke in a hug.

"Cool! Me next!" yelled Christy and practically skipped her way to the mirror.

Her eyes had changed color and were now a yellow-gold color looking almost as though the yellow ring that had originally been around her pupil had taken over her whole eye. She bobbed up and down as she undid the wrapping and let her hair fall over her shoulder revealing black tresses and black wolf ears to match.

Next she undid her tail which was black and currently bristling as she swished it around in her excitement. She squeezed Kurama in a tight hug which caused him to finally come out of shock….or maybe go into a whole new state of shock.

Dusty stepped up next, no hesitation showing as she ripped the bandages off of her hands, revealing retractable leopard claws. Tayg untied the knot to the bandage on her head and revealed that her dark brown hair was now streaked with bronze highlights. Her spotted brown ears snapped to attention and her freed sleek, spotted tail waved back and forth as she gave her reflection a pleased smile.

All the occupants of the room now looked at me.

"I'm not gonna use the mirror, I don't care what I look like."

Hiei helped me undo the bandage on my head while I took care of the one on my tail. I closed my eyes as both bandages fell. There were no gasps, no screams, nothing. I opened one eye to see everyone wide-eyed.

"Do I really look that bad?" I asked.

"Nope, just the total opposite of what you used to look like," Christy muttered but somehow I still heard it.

A strand of silver dropped down into my face. _What in the world?_ I gave it a tug and discovered it to be my hair!

"Okay, now I want the mirror," I spoke. Botan picked it up and held it in front of me.

"She looks like Youko's little sister!" Kuwabara finally found his annoying voice.

My eyes were silver but with blue around the pupil that melted into the silver as if the color changing process had been interrupted. My hair was now snow white and went to my bum, meeting my tail which was also white with a horse champagne color mixed in. My ears matched my tail. I could pass for Youko's sister if I was taller by, oh say, three feet.

"Shorty, Christy, you'll have to find ways to make your rose whips accessible," Koenma informed us. We nodded. "Now we'll have to give you names. Shorty, you will be known as Kitoki."

Three ears swiveled around as a door slammed down the hall outside the office.

"How fitting," said Kurama. "We can call you Kit for short since you act like one." I narrowed my eyes at him and the tip of my tail twitched back and forth, showing my irritation with my fellow fox.

"Dusty you will be Amaya, Christy will be Miya, and Tiara will be Hitomi. In two days you will go to the Makai."

* * *

We were met by a squeal and surprised gasps when we entered the living room of the compound. I curled my tail around my waist and laid my ears back to tell either of the overly excited girls that they would not be allowed to touch me.

"I like the color of your hair," Shizuru complimented me.

I looked at the white locks hanging over my shoulder. "Yeah, me too." I was confused as to why my hair had gone to this color when Dusty's and Christy's had gone to a color closer to the shade they already had and Tiara's stayed the same. I didn't care, though; I liked this color better anyway.

My ears pricked up when I heard light footsteps coming down the hall. Genkai entered and looked us over.

"I see the procedure was a success," she commented and took a drag on her cigarette. I wagged my tail back and forth, glad that she approved.

Most of the rest of the day was spent figuring out exactly all that had changed. Foremost was the fact that we all had powers now. Dusty had great speed, I could grow plants out of nowhere, Tiara we already knew controlled the elements, and Christy was an illusionist.

Our senses were heightened considerably. We could see greater distances, smell things within the compound from a ways away, and hear even the slightest sound. We could also detect emotion changes through people's different odors.

It was handy to have at times but I didn't like being able to hear everything, it was starting to give me a headache. Hiei told me that I'd grow accustomed to it but I didn't want to wait very long.

Around dinner time, Dusty, Christy, and I were still trying to figure out how to sit down without mashing our tails. Sitting at the table wasn't a problem but sitting in chair with backs was more of a challenge. We finally just had to keep them wrapped around our waists and try not to drop food on them.

We ate dinner and about the time that I was starting to get high off all the spice aroma, Hiei took me up to our room. I couldn't help but wonder if he could also smell changes in me. We listened to music for a while and then got ready for bed. Hiei actually fell into a light sleep but I couldn't because even across the room. I could still hear his quiet breathing. But I guess it eventually lulled me to sleep because I couldn't remember thinking anything after, _Adjusting better not take much longer. _

**A/N:**Yeah, I had to take Keiko out. Sorry to all of you who like Keiko, but Tiara really wanted Yusuke to be her Guardian, and with what Guardianship entails, I couldn't leave Keiko in the story. That, and I really didn't think that she would fit into the crossover section of the plot. Sorry again.

If you're reading, please review. I like to know how well my readers enjoy the story and if there is anything I can improve on. I know that the beginning of the story is slow and seems rather pointless, but it would be a big mess to just throw a bunch of kids into an adventure without explaining their relationships first. I promise it will pick up very soon.

Please review! I don't bite. :)

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* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything

**A/N:** I don't know if any of you were trying to review anonymously, but for some reason I had that feature disabled. I've enabled it so you can review even if you don't have an account or are just too lazy to log in. :)

* * *

**Chapter Five—A Day of Fun**

My ears flew straight up when my nose picked up the scent of bacon. I was ravenous but as soon as I sat up and caught my reflection in the mirror, I knew that a shower should be my top priority. I had Hiei take me to the bathroom where I probably broke one of my own records for quick showers. I didn't even bother to dry my hair before I left to go eat breakfast, knowing that since it was long again, I wouldn't have to bother with straightening it later.

While I waited for my other friends to show up, I gorged myself on two eggs, a handful of bacon, and two pancakes which was a lot compared to how I normally eat. But can you blame me? I hadn't had good food for a few days now. And, no, last night didn't count because the only good thing we had for dinner was Yukina's dumplings and Botan attempted to make the rest. Since Botan can barely boil water, it was needless to say that none of her creations turned out edible.

"So guys," Botan addressed us from the corner diagonally from me. My ears swiveled in her direction but I was too busy enjoying my breakfast to look up. "I was thinking we'd get out and do something before you had to go to the Makai. Are you up for a day of fun?"

I swallowed my mouthful of food. "If your definition of fun starts with a, S-H and ends with an –ing, then no, because I'm not going on a shopping spree." Yeah, I was kind of pissy but, come on, I had just been operated upon and brutally disappointed when I found out the main reason I did it was unsuccessful. I also knew where Botan shopped and I always steered clear of those girly-girl places.

"Well, I was thinking about going swimming—" I lifted my head. "—but we'd have to go buy you guys swimming suits, right?" My ears drooped.

"Yes," I sighed at the same time that Tiara blurted, "That sounds like fun!" I was still trying to find a way around the shopping part (especially for a _swimming suit_) but there were no other options and I loved swimming.

Kuwabara was laughing at my expression. "Aw, Shorty, you look cute, like a lost puppy." And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the only male in my group of friends who will describe any animal you show him as 'cute'. Did I mention he's obsessed with kittens, too?

I bared my newly acquired fangs and somehow let out a dog-like growl. I don't know how I did it and it surprised me, but it had the desired effect. The retard laughed nervously and went back to slurping his breakfast.

"Botan also thought it would be fun to go clubbing," Yukina mentioned and then sheepishly added, "Whatever that means."

"Okay," my friends and I agreed.

So we all wore knit caps to cover our new ears and lack of human ears and baggy pants to hide our tails. Tiara wore a baggy shirt and tucked her wings in tight. Since no one could see Tayg's wings because of his illusion capabilities, he didn't have to change at all. Hiei left his cloak behind and, after a bit of persuading from Kurama, also his katana.

When everyone was ready, we left for the mall, being led by Yukina and Botan. We also met up with Shizuru along the way who decided to join in on our "day of fun".

* * *

"Awp, I'm tired," I announced and slid my wheelchair to a stop. We had been following our very own shopaholic Botan around non-stop for half an hour and hadn't even reached our destination yet.

"Hiei, you should pull me," I requested of my Guardian.

He looked at me as if he had suddenly realized that Tiara and Christy were not the only ones who could have random ideas. I just smiled a little and held my hand out to him. He stared at it for a moment and then reluctantly grasped it, pulling me beside him. Now we looked like the other three couples only less happy.

I wasn't sure how fast the relationships between my friends and their Guardians were moving but they were already holding onto each other in the various ways that couples do. I also wasn't sure if they were calling themselves couples yet but it sure looked like it. I mean, I felt really close to Hiei but it wasn't like he was going to let me grab onto him whenever I wanted. _Maybe I'm doing something wrong. _Then I remembered that this was _Hiei_ I was thinking about and let that idea go.

Finally our leader stopped at a swimwear store. _Oh joy._

Christy's choice didn't take much time at all. She simply picked out a pink tank top that had lips on it in a kissing position. The bottoms she chose were black shorts with pink stripes on the sides.

Next was Dusty; hers didn't take much time either. She decided on a leopard print halter top bikini.

Then came Tiara's choice. She found a two piece swim suit, the bottoms being boy shorts. It was rainbow colored and had hibiscus flowers dancing across the fabric as if carried by an imaginary wind.

I was last and believe me, I felt like a complete moron trying to find a swimsuit for me. I found two, but neither one fit perfectly. So I got this _brilliant_ idea to buy both and mix and match. The top was vines tangled with red roses. The bottoms were shorts and they had bushes with glowing yellow eyes glaring out at you. I thought it showed too many scars, but I really liked it so it didn't matter.

Botan got a simple baby pink bikini. Shizuru bought a one piece of shining silver and gold intertwined. Yukina also got a one piece of dark blue and shiny snowflakes.

"Hey Botan," I said as we waited for the boys to try on their selections. Yes, we made all of them get trunks, even Hiei though I can't say how we accomplished that. "Okay, so here's the thing, uh….we're not exactly us anymore so how are we supposed to go swimming at a community pool?"

"Don't worry about it," Shizuru answered. "I have a friend who works at the pool. She can get us in even though it's closed."

"Ah." I turned back as the boys emerged with their decisions in hand.

Yusuke had dark blue trunks with aqua lining the sides and Kuwabara had dark red ones with orange lining. They weren't too creative.

Kurama, on the other hand, picked out black trunks with thorny vines spiraling up the legs. (How original.) Hiei's were also black with different shades of blue that spiraled up like flames and formed a dragon face. That one, too, was an ironic find. Tayg's fit him perfectly. A cloudy sky up by the elastic was producing tornadoes that wound down his legs.

Christy smiled wolfishly and snatched my bag from my hand, holding up my top to Kurama stating, "You would look so hot in that."

Everyone laughed save Hiei who smirked and Kurama who was blushing. "If you didn't like them, all you had to do was say so," he said quietly.

Christy hugged him. "Totally trick-bombed you."

Next our shopping extraordinaire took us to get clothes for clubbing. Personally I thought that we could go in our everyday clothes but Botan claimed that we had to get something special.

So the Guardians and their charges separated from the other four—I mean three girls....and Kuwabara and we made our way to DEB. This time I knew what I was looking for and got done before everyone else, settling on a black and neon green, tank top corset and a black sweatshirt with slits in the sleeves that revealed green underneath. I also found two picture boxes that would replace my lost albums; one said "Best Buds" and the other stated "Friends Forever".

The only other girl to find anything in that store was Tiara who found a purple, pink, and blue plaid mini skirt and a matching tie. The shirt was on a clearance rack, it being an older model long, purple wrap shirt with sleeves that only covered her shoulders and a flower pattern. She also found some knee high blue socks making her cotton candy school girl ensemble complete. I thought she would have gotten her fill of that from school but I guess not.

Our next stop was Hot Topic where I found some baggy black cargo pants for my outfit and Dusty and Christy bought theirs. Dusty found hers first since things come easier in her size than Christy's. She decided on a dark blue silk tank top with black lace that went up around the neckline and formed the straps. Beads and glitter adorned the fabric in designs of hearts and skulls. She got a jean mini skirt that had a bottom fringed with leopard print. That way she could wrap her tail around her waist as a belt and it would still match without looking too suspicious. Lastly, she picked up a black fedora hat that would add a jazzy look to her outfit.

Christy picked out a shirt that was both unique and awesome. It was pink and orange silk piping that was wrapped around overtop black fabric and went over her shoulders as straps in the same way the lace on Dusty's shirt did. Kurama helped her find some baggy black jeans. She bought some clip on chains and a necklace/earring set that were guitar picks with pink skulls.

We met up with the other girls….and Kuwabara by the food court and then headed over to a guy's clothing store. This would be a blast. While we waited, I was forced to 'Ooh' and 'Aah' as the other girls displayed their new clothing. I was thoroughly tired of shopping and wanted to get to some fun activities.

Anyway, Shizuru just got a different shirt that had the see, hear, and speak no evil monkeys on it with an extra that had its arms crossed and said, "Have no fun." Botan got a pant and mini skirt combo of a light blue and pink. Her shirt was the same light pink with a white smiley wearing shades. Yukina was last with a shiny silver skirt with leaves across the hem and a light aqua, silk, drape-neck shirt.

Now it was the boys' turn to astound us. Yusuke was actually wearing black but it was only a muscle-T with jeans. I never saw my bud in something tight before but it was definitely a nice change. Kuwabara would have looked good if his face didn't screw it up. In case you didn't know, he does have muscles but his looks usually obscure your noticing that fact. He had dark blue jeans and a white muscle-T with a dark blue collar.

I guess not many guys are creative with their clothing but that was okay because I liked Hiei's plain look. It was kind of weird seeing him in jeans but there he was—in jeans—wearing a crimson muscle-T although he was a tad scrawnier than Yusuke and Ugly. Overtop he had a red and white sports jacket and he had the sleeves pushed up. _Hey, we have something in common. Long sleeves bother me, too._

Tayg got a new black shirt that in green lettering proclaimed, "Kiss me, I'm Irish." He also purchased a green top hat which, as ridiculous as it sounds, didn't look bad perched crookedly on his mop of red hair. It must have been because of his Irish features. Now he and Dusty would match.

Lastly was Kurama and this was the first time I had ever seen him in jeans _or_ black. His jeans were faded and his black shirt was short sleeved with a black stemmed rose of glowing green petals imprinted on the front. Where he found that, I can't tell you.

"Kurama, I don't know how you pull that off but you look pretty spiffy," I told the kitsune. He smiled, glad there were no jokes this time.

Hiei twitched at my portmanteau word and then glared realizing it was meant as a compliment and not for him. I smelled a hint of jealousy in the air and gave him a sidelong glance but he evaded my gaze.

Now that we were finally finished with that nightmare, we were off to the pool.

* * *

The pool was indoors and had waterslides and a spa center. We got in with no trouble after Shizuru spoke to her friend and promised we'd be out in a couple hours.

I was nervous about being seen in a swimsuit around a bunch of guys since I didn't have a shirt to wear overtop and I had to make a hole in the back for my tail. But nobody stared at my scars or commented on the hole so it was good so far.

"You can swim, right?" Yusuke asked Tiara.

"Of course," she responded. "Why do you ask?"

"Kurama says that if a fairy gets their wings wet then they can't fly for a while until they dry out."

"Don't worry, Urameshi," Tayg said while patting the teen on the back. "I go swimmin' all th' time."

That encouraged Yusuke and he dove into the pool with Tiara close behind. Christy followed me in while Kurama kept trying to convince Hiei to swim with us.

"There is no way, fox," Hiei insisted.

"Hey, what if I start to drown and you're not here to save me, _Guardian_. Then what are you gonna do?" I aided in the argument.

He glared at me knowing I had him. It _was_ his job to protect me. So he dove in making sure to hit close enough that he splashed me. I got it double-time since Dusty was dropped in on my other side, courtesy of Tayg. The fairy hovered above the water waiting for Dusty to come up, but he went a little too low and Dusty grabbed his foot, pulling him under.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were currently trying to drown each other and Shizuru, Yukina, and Botan were swimming laps to get used to the water.

"I'm gonna swim to those inner tubes, okay?" I said to Hiei.

He cocked an eyebrow. "You can swim?" He had only seen me hanging onto the wall so far. I nodded. "How?"

"How do I do everything else? I use my arms."

I hadn't gone swimming in quite a while but I found it to be like riding a bike, you never forget. (But how would I know? I've never ridden a bike.) I wasn't an Olympic swimmer or anything but I thought I was pretty good for not being able to use my legs. I made it to the other side of the pool no problem.

Hiei was a great swimmer but he really didn't like the water which was easy to understand if you knew what he was. My inner tube idea would be a great way to settle his discontent. I found a double one and towed it out behind me. Hiei also seemed to like my idea as he found he could seat himself in the hole and stay out of the water for the most part. I propped my head on my arms and left my bottom half in the water.

I had discovered that it was more of a challenge to swim with a waterlogged fox tail and ears that were sensitive to the wetness. I tried to keep my tail wrapped around my waist and flattened my ears against the sides of my head to keep the water out.

"You're too expressive." _That was just out of the blue. _Hiei opened his eyes and looked sideways at me. "In the Makai that would be viewed as a weakness."

I nodded; he meant my new features. "I'll try to keep my ears under control but this tail has a mind of its own."

He gave me a trademark 'Hn'.

"How come….?" I began but paused not knowing how to word my question or how he would respond.

"How come what?"

"How come you are the way you are? What happened to you?" He glared at me and I quickly put my hands up defensively. "You don't have to tell me if it's that bad. I mean, it must be fairly bad if you won't tell someone that secret—" I looked over at Yukina. "—but what exactly is it?"

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

What happened to me? That was a long story and one that I would not being telling to her in full any time soon. But she seemed like she would understand; she's not judgmental. I looked at her from the corner of my eyes. She was awaiting an answer, her ears raised a little in anticipation. It was almost….cute.

What the hell? Where did that come from? Damnit, I hate it when the fox is right. She was making this harder than it had to be. It's a good thing mating season just ended.

"I'm the Forbidden Child," I finally answered her.

"Like in China? Like a one-too-many-kids Forbidden Child?" she asked.

"No. I was a male fire youkai born in a land of ice maidens. I was thrown off my island and into the Makai."

"I'm sorry." She was apologizing? She wasn't the one who threw me off of the Koorime Glacier.

"You didn't do anything."

"I know but….I mean, here I was feeling sorry for myself because I lost my family but you weren't even raised with yours. I pretty much raised myself anyway since my parents were always on business but, then again, so did you."

"Not in the beginning. I was raised by thieves but they left me when I grew older and became more powerful. They feared me." She nodded, urging me to continue. "In short, after that, I got the Jagan Eye and went in search of Yukina. I tried to steal some artifacts along the way and was caught and defeated using a stupid mirror trick."

"Performed by Yusuke," she supplied, smiling lightly. "He told me about that and Yukina's rescue."

A flash ruined our conversation and I looked up to see the blue-haired onna holding one of those picture taking contraptions.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

"Hey Shorty!" Yusuke called as he walked up beside Botan. "We're going on the waterslide, wanna come?"

I shrugged but when Hiei volunteered to take me, we ditched the inner tube and climbed the waterslide. Hiei didn't think he would like this method of getting wet any better but since the slide was fast and had a lot of unexpected turns, he didn't protest too much.

A few rides later, the rest of our group approached us from playing water tag and joined in our fun. We went down the slide a few more times in regular positions and then turned to awkward positions. I went down on my stomach and got water in my ears.

Next, Hiei came down backwards on his back and lost his mat halfway down. _Ouch! By the look on his face, he got a little rubbed on that one._ I motioned for him to let me see while I emptied my ears of water and he did so that I could see some red spots where the skin had been rubbed raw.

"Hey," I waved Botan over as she was coming out of the health center. "Hiei rubbed himself on the slide, we're gonna take care of it."

"That's okay," she replied, flagging down the other sliders. "If we want to go clubbing we should probably head back so we can get ready."

Hiei picked me up bridal style with a small grimace and took me to my chair. We were the first into the changing rooms and, amazingly, I beat him out to the lobby. I think it was because he was trying to figure out how to put his shirt on because when he appeared, it was only half on.

I beckoned him over. "Sit there," I commanded and pointed at a bench in front of me. He didn't move. So I did what would get him to listen….I clapped him on the back where I knew one of the spots was. He nearly winced and then fixed a glare on me. I matched it and pointed at the seat in front of me.

"Baka onna," he muttered and sat in the designated area.

I ignored him and took a little container of balm from my backpack that I used when I burnt my hands on my wheels. I rubbed some over the spot in between his shoulder blades where I knew it was particularly bad, and then pressed my palm against it, praying that it wouldn't burn. He stiffened. _Oops!_ I forgot he didn't like to be touched but he didn't say anything and, after a moment, relaxed so I could put some more on the other spots. Maybe he was getting used to me? I sincerely hoped so.

* * *

~TAYG'S POV~

It didn't take the lasses long to get dressed but now they were doing their hair and make-up. I didn't know why, they all looked pretty to me. I think they made it a goal to make Shorty look nice tonight because they were forcing her to put make-up on while the lads were waiting in the living room.

Finally they were done and came downstairs in a single file line, wearing their new clothes and looking foxier than usual, especially Dusty with her messy bun. I dropped from my seat in the air and put an arm around her shoulders.

Yusuke's lass was wearing her short hair in spiky….what had she called them? _Pig_ tails? I don't think I would like something like that on my head but Urameshi seemed to like it just fine. The wolf's hair was straight and swept to one side but it didn't cover her ears. They were laid flat against her head so the fox boy only needed to sprout wee roses in her hair to hide them. Botan's hair was down and in curls and the ice maiden was wearing a different colored ribbon to match her skirt. Kuwabara's sister hadn't done her hair but she was wearing a bit of colored powder on her eyes and pink on her lips.

Shorty was last and her eyes looked very annoyed under that silver powder. Part of her hair was pulled back over her ears and pulled through a loop that was formed by the rest of her hair. Botan said she designed it.

"Can we go now?" she sighed. We did, and began walking to a club that Botan told us was called Shadow Square.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

It was dark and slightly chilly so I wore my sweatshirt but I eventually pushed up the bothersome sleeves anyway so there wasn't much of a point. Hiei was walking a little closer than usual since there was a greater chance of something bad happening at night. I wasn't thinking about that, I just couldn't get over the fact that he was in jeans.

I had been to a lot of clubs and parties but I had never been to Shadow Square which was strange considering it was a part of the mall. I wanted to go when it was still new but school started before I got the chance. It would have been great but something just had to be bothering me.

"We're going to the Makai tomorrow, huh?" Hiei nodded to my query. "Do you want to go back?" He gave me one of his _I-hate-it-when-you-ask-stupid-questions_ looks. I smacked myself. "Stupid Kat, of course he does, it's his home."

"Hn, do _you_ not want to go?" he asked, his low voice barely audible amongst all the other conversations.

I looked down at the sidewalk. "I'll be road kill before we even get moved in."

"That's why you were assigned a Guardian."

Kurama fell back into our pace and took my hand. I was confused as to why until he opened his fist and revealed a ring. It looked like a vine that connected at the top with a small golden rose and green leaves.

"This is how you will access your rose whip," he said as he slipped it onto my left ring finger. "You need only feed energy into it for it to transform."

"What are you doing, Kurama?" Christy demanded.

He smiled jokingly. "Just proposing."

"That's the first marriage proposal I've seen that's made with a whip," I spoke. "You're doing it wrong, Kurama, you're supposed to be on one knee."

"My mistake," he laughed before he sped back up to walk beside Christy.

* * *

When we reached Shadow Square, my ears began to hurt from all the loud music. My other friends didn't seem to notice it but Hiei was on my side. We stayed in a dark corner as far from the speakers as possible while everyone else danced.

Sometime, although I didn't even know I did it, I went into one of my dark moods. It usually happens when there's something I can't do, like rollerblade or dance and it always made me question my purpose here. _Why couldn't I have been born normal? Am I so different just because I'm in a wheelchair?_ I shifted into a slouching position when a group of guys walked by, but none noticed the two people in the corner. I felt small and invisible. _Would anyone be concerned if I disappeared?_

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

I never would have guessed she felt that way about herself. I had been listening to her thoughts and it looks like the fox was right again, we are more alike than I thought, though I'm hardly on the depressed side of things.

I looked over to where he was dancing with his charge to see if he had noticed the kit's sudden mood swing but he was preoccupied and perhaps having an argument with Youko, but I don't want to think about what it would be over.

That stupid ape was trying to get my sister to dance by moving around her in what I suppose he thought was a 'cool style'. He looks so much better sprawled on the floor. _I can fix that. _

I pushed off from the wall I was leaning on and this caught Shorty's attention. She looked at me, eyebrow raised questioningly. I smirked and nodded toward my target. "I'll be back in a moment."

I walked over to the baka while he had his back turned and kicked a foot out from under him, sending him face first into the floor. "You aren't very coordinated, fool."

"What are you talking about? I'm fine," the oaf mumbled against the floor.

"Kazuma was teaching me to dance. You should try it, too, Hiei," my sister suggested.

The moron moved from the floor. _What a shame._ "Yeah, shrimp, let's see what you can do."

I didn't want to participate in this stupid ningen activity but I couldn't refuse Yukina either. The other Guardians and their charges approached but the fox's girl was missing. Until I saw her dragging Shorty over. She looked just as happy as I was.

"Let me go, Christy! I can't dance!" she yelled, swatting the hand on her wrist.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

_I can't frickin' dance! She of all people should know that!_

"Come on, Shorty. If Hiei can do it, you can, too," Yusuke put in.

"It will be fun. Please, Kat?" Yukina added.

I sighed. I can't say no to her. _Why does she have to be so cute? Oh, right, she's related to Hiei. Whoa, what? What was that all about?_

I looked to my Guardian and suggested, "One song?"

"One song," he agreed.

So I got my balance and stood beside Hiei. Yes, I can stand but not for very long because I get tired easily. Some techno song was playing and Botan told us that we had to feel the beat first. I couldn't tap my foot so it was just as easy to slap my thigh. But right as I was getting the hang of it, the song ended and Mandy Moore's "Only Hope" came on.

"Oh perfect!" squealed Botan. "This one will be easier to learn." She positioned Hiei's hands on my hips and my hands on his shoulders. This was extremely strange for both of us and it was funny how he was considered short but I still had to look up to meet his eyes.

Hiei mimicked Yusuke and Tiara's movements and I mimicked him. We were much slower than everyone else but no one made a comment.

"This is a suck fest. The only dance I can do is a slow one," I said. He smirked and looked over to Yukina and Clueless Morgan; then the smirk turned to a frown.

"Out of all the people, why that?" he asked himself, but I answered.

"Hey, everybody needs love. I take it in any form available even if I act like I don't accept it." He gave me an indiscernible look that I had never seen him use before. It was one of relief, but almost had a look of pain mixed in. I didn't understand it and it kind of scared me so I went back to watching my feet.

In the middle of the song, I looked over at Christy and Kurama. They were closer together now….in fact, all the couples were drawing closer to one another. So Hiei pulled me closer, too, almost protectively. My bad mood vanished and a calm set in. I put my head on his shoulder, and he lightly rested his chin on it.

My stomach flip-flopped and I wasn't sure why. If it was for the same reason that I mentioned Hiei as being 'cute' earlier, then I would soon be disappointed. My feet caught on themselves and I would have fallen had Hiei not been there to save me, like usual.

I cursed my stupid feet as the song ended. Our agreement was over and it had just started to get to the good part. It goes without saying that I felt crappier than before so I retreated back to the doorway. I really wanted to disappear and since I couldn't drink, I needed sugar so I made a split-second decision.

"Want to go get some ice cream?" Hiei gave me the same look he had when we were walking here and then I interrupted Tiara and Yusuke to tell them to meet us at the food court when they were done. I wasn't planning on going back to Shadow Square tonight.

I put on my sweatshirt to cover the goosebumps of embarrassment which didn't really matter anyway. Any creature with the senses of _Kuwabara_ could smell what I was giving off. I looked at the clocks in a shop on our way to the food court and found it to be nearly midnight. We would be leaving for the Makai soon.

Hiei and I got really big dishes of ice cream and sat at a table to enjoy it. There weren't many people in the food court but all the shops were still open since many more were likely to come from the club. I concentrated hard on my snack so that I wouldn't have to see Hiei's smirk.

The clocks down at the shop chimed twelve thirty and I saw the rest of our group walking toward us, meaning it was time to leave and get a little sleep before we had to embark on our journey. I was eager to get out of there and I would have succeeded if Christy hadn't mentioned that there was a picture booth….

* * *

**A/N:** So this is the last get-to-know-you chapter and next chapter will be the beginning of the adventure. I didn't expect to get very many reviews until next chapter considering not much happens until then, but come on, guys. I know at least some of you are reading the chapters do leaving one little review wouldn't hurt anything. Even if nothing has been happening so far, you could at least tell me if the characters are good or something. How will I know how I'm doing if you don't tell me?

….OK, rant over. But that button with the green letters down there is still really lonely. Please, put it to good use. :)

—Kateracks


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

Chapter Six—Staring Adventure in the Face

The gang came to get Hiei and I at the park at about seven o'clock. We had left early, not wanting to hear the fits that Stupid and Yusuke would throw when they had to get up at five. The other girls wouldn't be too thrilled either. I, on the other hand, couldn't sleep from the beginning.

So anyway, we were watching the sun rise when everybody else showed up. The girls were coming to see us off, too, sleepy and still dressed in their clothes from last night. I had on my black pants and a Yoshi tank top with my new sweatshirt. Not that I needed it, Hiei was keeping me pretty warm. Don't even think about us cuddling! The tree isn't a big one and I could feel his natural heat anywhere I sat, which happened to be on a branch above and behind him.

I took a deep breath and leaned back on my perch. I loved the smell of morning.

"Glad you're in a good mood."

I gave a frustrated sigh and peered down at Yusuke. "I left earlier than you did to escape your whining." He attempted to use one of my glares against me but it wound up being foiled by a yawn.

"Are you ready to go?" Kurama politely asked.

I nodded, pulling on my pack. Hiei gave a 'Hn' and then moved for me to climb onto his back. What? You didn't think I could take my wheelchair to the Makai, did you?

Hiei stood up and bounced to shift me up more on his shoulders. Unfortunately, the bounce sent my back into a branch above us and knocked an 'Oof!" out of me. This, of course, sent me into a laughing fit and Hiei smirked at his unintentional way of getting me back for some of the things I did yesterday.

Our moment was ruined by a camera flash going off. Botan held the photo out to me once we were safely on the ground.

"One more for the road," she grinned.

I nodded and Hiei rolled his eyes. I had compiled a small stack of pictures to replace the ones I lost at my house and a lot of them had him in them since he was my Guardian. But he didn't say anything this time and we were soon on our way to Koenma's office.

* * *

"Hey, diaper bag," I spoke to the toddler at the same time that Yusuke was asking, "What's up, binky breath?"

"Are you ready to depart?" Koenma asked, ignoring our comments and continuing to stamp mountains of paperwork.

"No, we're just here to watch your magical stamping abilities," Dusty responded, voice thick with sarcasm.

All of us with tails had them twitching in agitation as we watched the ogres running hither and thither, telling Koenma about the scouts our pursuer had sent out and progress of other spirit detectives.

"Come on, Koenma!" Tiara and Christy cried.

The ruler stamped one last paper and sat back in his chair in relief. "Things have been really hectic around here with this person causing chaos while he looks for you four."

"Well, excuse us for living," I muttered.

Koenma ignored this comment as well. "You will be staying in a tree house," Koenma muttered. "In the territory of Mukuro; she has offered to keep you under her watchful eye so no unusual activity goes unnoticed."

"Huh, I wonder why she's being so nice," Yusuke wondered with fake curiosity as he threw a glance over at Hiei who promptly stiffened beneath me. I felt a knot in my stomach as I, too, wondered who this Mukuro person was and why she was being so nice to a bunch of humans. What did she have to do with Hiei?

Koenma continued to spout out warnings. "I want you to stay clear of the villages as much as possible. Only enter when it's necessary. And you will probably meet trouble once you get there. Your enemy has his minions going after all of my spirit detectives."

Kurama and Christy formed their rose whips (I still don't know where she was storing hers—a bracelet, maybe) and Dusty sent her claws out. I figured it would be a hazard if I tried to form my whip while I was still on Hiei's back. I'd make it once we got there.

Then Koenma told Botan to make us a portal and we were through in a matter of seconds. But instead of transferring to the other side, we dropped into a black abyss. Back up at the beginning of the portal, I heard an evil laugh, screams, and an ogre talking. It was George.

I strained my new ears to hear what was being said. "The vault has been broken into, Sir! _He_ has taken the Relic of Shifting Dimensions!" Then it went out of my hearing range and the portal closed shut.

* * *

I was no longer surrounded by the darkness of the portal but I was still falling—through an evening sky now. I flipped over and, upon seeing the nearing landscape, called out to the nearest tree to catch me. It didn't respond. In a last ditch attempt to save myself, I leaned toward the lower branches and grabbed one.

_Ow!_ _That didn't feel too good._ So I was saved with maybe only a bruised rib, a good quality of having a stronger form of yourself. (And, no, I don't mean that in a psychological sense.) You can fall from great heights and either land on your feet or not die. The problem? I can't land on my feet because my legs don't work and I have a jacked up spine that could, in fact, be injured easily and I was too high up to drop down.

Kurama appeared beneath me. "You can let go, I'll catch you."

I considered his offer and wondered if it would be a wise decision to put my life in his hands. Yes, I did trust Kurama but did I trust him that much? When I looked down, though, I realized from his sincere look that I did trust him that much. Besides, what other choice did I have? I took a deep breath and let go….

And he caught me. He was pretty strong even if he doesn't look it. Christy appeared and hugged me, glad that I hadn't hurt my back from the fall.

Dusty and Tayg were standing on a dirt road and Yusuke and Tiara were climbing out of a tree. Kuwabara was attempting to free himself from a bush. We all looked alright but—

"Where's Hiei?" I asked, looking around the area for my Guardian. A dark spot among some tall grass near a stone wall caught my attention. Kurama took me over to inspect it and we found it to be exactly the person we were looking for. It was the first time I had ever seen him show true pain.

"What happened?" Kurama inquired.

"Hn, I landed on my shoulder. It's out of place," he answered while holding back sounds of pain.

"How does that work? You always land on your feet!" Yusuke said, coming up behind us.

"Our powers don't work here," Tayg announced.

"Yeah," Dusty agreed. "He tried to call the wind to save us but it wouldn't listen to him. He and Tiara had to use their wings."

"Didn't you try to use the trees?" Christy asked Kurama.

"Yes, as did you, Shorty. But, as we both saw, they didn't listen to either of us."

Hiei sat up, jaw set. I immediately went into "Fix it" mode and turned to Yusuke. "Can you pop his shoulder back?"

Yusuke nodded and crouched next to his teammate. He put a hand behind the socket and one in front and jerked it back into place. It wasn't totally painless but Hiei wouldn't allow himself to yell.

I looked down at the ground when he gave me a look that practically said _You're screwed_. He wouldn't be able to carry me, that much I knew.

My right knee had blood and dirt matted to my pants. Frustrated that my new pants were already trashed, I stood up and forcibly dusted off the mess. I looked to my partners for any volunteers to carry me and was met with staring eyes about the size of golf balls and dropped jaws. Then it hit me.

I….stood….up?

I checked again to make sure I hadn't imagined it and then hesitantly took a step, hoping this wasn't a repeat of the hospital. I wobbled unsteadily….

But I didn't fall.

I kicked at the dirt….

And then I leaped and tackled Christy—and Tiara who was unfortunately behind her—to the ground, squeezing the life out of them. I jumped up and took off, running loop-de-loops around my companions, jumping, spinning, and kicking. Lastly, I ran up behind Kuwabara and gave him a boot in the butt. Completely psyched (not only because I had wanted to do that for forever but because I had done it successfully), I buzzed over to Hiei and grinned like a maniac into his astounded face until he became so weirded out that he backed up a couple steps.

"Oh my _God_!!" I cried, throwing my hands up and spinning around. "Why didn't you guys tell me walking was this frickin' amazing?! I mean, I always thought it would be awesome, but look what I've been missing!"

"It's a luxury we take for granted, I suppose," Kurama said, smiling at my enthusiasm.

"Whatever this dimension is, I love it already!" I shouted and then another thing hit me. "Where _are_ we?"

"Let's go see," Dusty suggested, pointing toward a gate set in the stone wall. It had the letters _CM_ on it.

Yusuke pushed open the gate and walked up to the mansion without even observing his surroundings. However, to me, there was something strangely familiar about this place but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. There were winding bushes on either side of the path on which we were walking and several water fountains.

Kuwabara reached the door first and pounded on it for a minute before Yusuke threw it open and strode in like he owned the place.

"Hello?" Tiara called to the vast emptiness of the mansion. There was no answer but the crackling of the large fire before us.

There were many crates off to our left in what used to be a vacant space by a door. In the middle of the room and in front of the fire were a couple chairs and a coffee table that was stacked with books. More books were littered throughout the room but the ones that had been used recently were on that coffee table. To the left was a staircase with a door on either side; the stairs themselves branching off in either direction, most likely leading to the bedrooms.

"Hello?" I called this time but still there was no answer.

A note on another table in front of us caught my attention and I picked it up, just to see to whom it was addressed. When I read the name, the paper slipped through my fingers and fluttered back to the table's surface.

Christy picked it up and also read the name. "Oh, my God. That's what he meant by—"

"The Relic of Shifting Dimensions," I finished for her.

"Well, bakas, where are we?" Hiei asked, irritated that we weren't making any sense.

"We're in Tomb Raider," we answered in unison.

"What?!" everyone else yelled.

"So we're here until binky breath gets the artifact back?" Yusuke burst in. "He can't do that without us! We're the best detectives he has!"

"You forget, the one hunting these onnas is not strong, only crafty," Hiei reminded him.

"And we're not stuck here either," Kurama interjected.

"What do you mean, fox boy?" Tayg asked.

"Youko knows of this artifact. We would, in fact, be stuck if he didn't know of two ways to escape. The first is not an option—that the user of the artifact brings us back of his own will. The second is that we fight our way through the dimension, righting the problems."

"So basically we have to beat the game?" Yusuke clarified.

"It would seem that way."

"Well, no biggy," Kuwabara's spoke next. "Shorty can get us out of here no problem."

I looked back at him and grinned cockily. I had played this game so many times, it was almost like a religion and now that I could walk, we could make it out of here in half the time.

"I can help with the first level," Christy volunteered.

Kurama nodded at this and turned to the rest of our group. "Who else knows of this game?"

Tiara raised her hand. "I drown Lara in her own pool once."

"Somehow I don't think that's the kind of knowledge Kurama was looking for, Tiara," Dusty scolded. "Anyway, I just had a thought. How come Kurama and Christy still have their whips and my claws are still accessible if we can't use our powers?"

"Probably because you used your powers to form them before we came into this dimension," I said. "Once they're formed, you don't need to keep feeding energy into it so it would be just like Hiei's katana now. It's your way of protecting yourself without, say, tapping into super speed like he does."

"The claws were implanted so now they're a part of you," Kurama also explained.

"That makes no sense." We all looked to Hiei who had spoken. He fingered his bandana and then yanked it off revealing that his Jagan Eye was no longer there, just a thin line almost like a scar. "The Jagan was also an implant and now I cannot use it."

"Yes, Hiei, but you can live without the Jagan," Kurama expounded. "Unlike the girls' new forms which are not just implanted, they are virtually who they are now. The dimension could not seal their new forms away or else they would be reduced to comatose bodies."

"So we really are in Lara's house?" Yusuke asked after a while. "What did _CM_ on the gate mean?"

"Croft Manor," I replied easily as I walked about the room and examined pictures. Who would have guessed that even after all the technology in Reikai had failed, all I had to do was switch dimensions to be _walking_ right now.

"Do we get to meet Lara?" Tiara asked. "Katie? When did you put your hair in a fishtail braid? …Katie?"

"Apparently….when _I_ became Lara Croft," I gasped. "Look!"

I pulled a picture off the wall and held it for all to see. It was a photo of Lara standing out in her garden in a white sundress and although she still had Lara features, her face looked frighteningly similar to mine. Oh, and her bosoms were not quite as big. (Can't leave that out since that's usually a distinguishing feature.)

All was silent until Dusty cracked a smile. "So this whole estate is yours?"

"Looks like it but—"

A phone ringing cut me off and I hurried over to the right side of the room where there was a door. Upon opening it, we discovered the kitchen and the source of the ringing. Quickly saying a few words to brush up on my English accent, I picked up the receiver.

"Yes?"

"_Hey, sugar, it's me."_

I picked up on the cowboy slur right away. "Yes, hello, Larsen. What can I do for you?"

"_More than you'd be willin', I reckon, but that's not why I called."  
_

"No?"

"_Nah, you see, I got me a new boss in a big time company. When I told her about you, she said that she wanted to meet with ya as soon as possible. Says she's got an offer you won't be able to refuse. Think ya can make it?"_

I smiled at our troop of would-be spelunkers. "I think that can be arranged."

"_Well, great. Think you'll be needin' any help?" _

"I think my new teammates will be all the help I need. When and where can I meet this boss of yours?"

"_Tomorrow on the second floor of the auction house."_

"We'll be there. Thank you, Larsen. Bubye."

"So?" Yusuke prodded after I had hung up.

"We go in to meet with them tomorrow. For now, what do you say we make this place livable for the night?" I walked back out into the foyer and the note I picked up earlier.

"What do you mean?" asked Kuwabara. "It looks pretty livable to me."

I waved the note at him and then read what was scrawled in neat calligraphy on the page.

_Miss Croft, _

_Pardon the mess in the foyer but a rather large shipment of antiquities arrived while you were out. I would have had the crates put in the gallery but the security alarm has somehow been activated, locking the room from the inside. If this was not concerning enough, the renovators have shut off the water supply to the entire manor in order to continue the construction of the pool house. _

_On the bright side, I've located your missing journal and replaced it back in its appointed hiding place in your room. _

_Faithfully in your service, _

_Winston_

With that rather large list of tasks to attend to, we swiftly familiarized ourselves with the mansion and then set to fixing the problems. By the time we had shut off the alarm system, we had found numerous secret hiding places and a map which we would use to excavate the maze outside. This was where we found a grapple, obviously a new feature to the game though I couldn't tell you why it was out there.

We turned the water on and fixed the broken sundial while we were at it, all the while reading more and more books, some of which I found very interesting even though no one else knew why.

The first was in the hall outside the library. It read: _By far the most interesting is the legend of the Dagger of Xian and the awesome power it wields. _The Dagger of Xian was the main objective of the second game.

The next three were in the library itself, the first reading: _When the Spaniards had all but wiped out the Incan Empire, the remaining survivors fled into the mountains and disappeared. The legend says they retreated to the hidden city of Vilcabamba. _These first two books called these things 'legends' but I knew they were true. In fact, we would be visiting Vilcabamba very soon.

The second book said: _Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of mineralogy would arrive at the same conclusion. Wherever this Isis stone was formed, it was not on Earth._ The Isis stone was the objective of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, a game I had just finished before our home was ransacked.

The third book spoke of another place we would be learning of very soon. _The ruins of Atlantis were lost beneath the sea when the glaciers melted some 10,000 years ago._

The last book was located in Lara's treasure room and was just another random tidbit I was excited by. _The luxury liner Maria Doria has never been found. However, treasure hunters the world over have searched endlessly for its resting place. _I knew where the Maria Doria was—Antarctica along with the Infadra artifact in the third game.

Once everything was repaired and everyone was satisfied with snooping through Lara's house (we lost Christy and Kurama in the library), we claimed the huge bedrooms and went to sleep.

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

I awoke with a jolt when I realized I could no longer hear Shorty's breathing and sprang out of bed. _Curse this dimension for giving her working legs! _Once in the hall, though, I found the fairy and his charge following the oaf down the stairs, as calm as can be.

"Bet ye're lookin' fer yer fox, aye?" the fairy asked. I nodded. "Follow us, we're goin' t' watch th' show, too."

_Show?_ I jumped over the railing and trailed after them into the training room we had found last night. What I saw when I entered was enough to surprise anyone, though I hid it much better than others. Shorty seemed to be getting quite experienced with her new legs. She was performing flips in the air that I had only seen Kurama pull off along with balancing on spires and swinging on bars. It reminded me of the time Kurama had convinced me to watch a gymnastics show with him and his mother. Shorty was even learning how to run along walls with the use of her grapple to make it to far ledges.

Our moment of awe was interrupted when the detective called, "Come on, Shorty! We need to go!"

Giggling, the onna jumped from a rock wall she had been climbing, onto a walkway hanging from the ceiling and then swung down to us. We followed her out of the training room and through the mansion to the kitchen. I took in that she had changed out of her clothes and into the usual attire of brown shorts and an aqua shirt that this 'Lara' was known to wear.

"Shorty, seriously!" The detective whined again when she began to cook a frozen dinner in what the ningens called a microwave. Apparently this Lara didn't spend much of her life hunting or cooking either.

"Calm down, Yusuke. We have plenty of time. Besides, _this_ tomb raider isn't going anywhere until she's eaten something."

"You could have been eating instead of training," the fox told her, though not unkindly. "Where did you get the idea to do those things and how long were you doing them for?"

"I got the ideas from the way the gym was set up and I've been doing them since way early this morning. I couldn't sleep." At that time, the meal in the microwave exploded and Shorty slumped forward sadly.

"Bugger!" She hastily cleaned the machine and then grabbed several pieces of fruit, "Fine then! Come on, let's take the bikes."

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

I was currently seated on a nice, brown leather couch reading the latest explorers magazine when the cowboy entered the room. The others sat up straight but I remained still and watched him with my peripheral vision while still reading. He flopped a magazine onto the table where my feet were propped, the headline stating _Croft bags….Bigfoot? _with a picture of Lara standing over a creature covered in foliage.

"What's a man gotta do to get that sort of attention from ya?" he drawled and I looked up into his scruffy, tan face which nodded at me suggestively. I took in his muscled, military style appearance and resisted rolling my eyes. This dimension sure made a lot of improvements to his character.

"If that's the sort of attention you want, Larsen, you're well on your way." I could feel Hiei tense beside me but I was still intent on reading about the methane gases we may encounter in our travels.

"Sounds like fun, but I'm only here to make an introduction." Larsen pulled out a video screen and pressed a blue button, turning it on. "Lara Croft, meet Jacqueline Natla of Natla Technologies."

I finally put down the magazine and turned my attention to the screen and the woman in the black suit jacket and low cut teal shirt. Her long flaxen hair made her a lot prettier than in the game….in a menacing way. Her red nails looked like spears on her fingers.

"Good afternoon, Miss Croft," she greeted me in a smooth voice. "My research department has recently turned its focus to the study of ancient artifacts and I'm led to believe that, with the right incentive, you'd be just the woman to find them for me."

I wasn't affected by her pleasantries. "I'm afraid you've been misled. I only play for sport."

"Which is precisely why I've come to you, Miss Croft," Natla said, standing and pointing a remote at the screen. "This is a game you've played before—with your father." Ah, now we were getting somewhere. I hadn't learned much about Lara's father. "You both spent a lot of years searching for the Scion of Atlantis, all you needed was the location of Qualopec's tomb."

I leaned forward eagerly. "You've found Vilcabamba."

Natla smiled, knowing she had me on board. "How soon can you get to Peru?"

I looked back at my teammates and then smiled to our new employer, meaning we could leave…._now_.

* * *

_Vilcabamba continues to elude us and my instance that we press on in spite of these failures has moral low. I suspect Jenkins to be the author of this edition. He simply refuses to accept the possibility that Atlantis is the foundation upon which all known civilizations were built. Increasingly, I find it love unknown that remains untainted by academic domino and open minded enough to see this truth. _

The journal we had been informed of in Winston's letter was not so much Lara's journal as it was her father's. It had a lot of helpful tips in it, though, so I brought it along. Right now we were standing on a mountaintop, snow all around us. I had my sunglasses on to keep from going snow-blind as did the other girls but our Guardians didn't seem affected. Except Hiei. He didn't like the cold biting at his skin. (I didn't know until later how literal that was.)

Our guide, an old native man with a sombrero, was climbing a ladder to a rock ledge above us to make sure this was the right place and that it was safe. Pfft. Did he not know who I was? I should be protecting him!

The ladder broke just as he reached the top and once he climbed up, he turned back and called down in Spanish, "I'm sorry; I didn't bring enough rope."

I smiled, proud I understood that and waved up to him. "Not to worry. We'll find another way up."

We all split up and searched the mountain side but it was Tiara who walked around behind a pillar and found a ledge in the rock face that we could use to shimmy right and climb onto a large mound of snow. From there we climbed a bit higher to a ledge that was parallel from where our guide was. Up above was what looked like a support beam that had broke off. There was a hoop still attached and I could use my grapple to swing over to the other side. Kurama used his whip to swing over and Christy did the same while Tayg and Tiara simply flew over. I tied my grapple off on our side and then shot the other end over so that we wouldn't leave Dusty, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei behind.

Once we were all safely near the door, the guide again spoke to us in Spanish. "There you all are. Look, we have arrived. I don't know how to open it. There's an inscription above the door."

"An inscription, huh?"

There was another mound of snow to the left that would allow me to climb higher where there was conveniently located a hook that I used to swing up to a ledge and jump to the door. The way of opening the door which was a button in the first game was now a golden knob that I had to twist and configure, much like a vault but when I chose the correct combination, the doors down below ground open.

I looked down and saw everyone suddenly go on high alert. The guide ran screaming from the door but was caught by a wolf before he made it to the protection of our group. The pack followed after the alpha male and the first three were cut down by Christy, Kurama, and Hiei. Dusty stepped in front of Tayg to ward off another and when it lunged at her, she leapt over it with leopard-like grace, slicing through it with her claws.

I jumped off the door as the second wave of wolves came racing from inside the cave. I managed to shoot one down before my feet hit the ground and I had to recover from the painful jolt sent up my legs. This gave a wolf time to jump on me but Hiei's katana was quicker than the dog's jaws and the last one was rendered lifeless.

Our guide was not a pretty sight and I knew before Kurama even told us that he was no longer living. I drew in a deep breath, trying not to show how uncomfortable I was with knowing that. I had never seen death, not even the remains of my family since they were lost at sea. Hiei noticed this and turned me so I was staring into the face of adventure.

We entered, leaving our guide to be buried by the falling snow outside. The doors slammed shut behind us and Hiei and I cocked brows at each other.

"Alright, Shorty, don't stop astounding us now," Yusuke told me.

I wordlessly led the way deeper into the cave and then found myself stumbling when the ground suddenly gave a few inches, meaning I had just stepped on a pressure pad.

"I'm fine," I sighed to the worried group behind me. "That's new."

When I stepped forward and an arrow shot out of a tube in the wall, I felt relief wash over me. "But not new enough. You can roll under these, guys, no big deal." I demonstrated by dive-rolling under one and then another and so on under all six traps. This was simple enough and the others made it without error.

"This is exactly like the game but in better graphics," I spoke as we rounded a bend to the right and then abruptly stopped when I saw just how wrong I was. "Or not."

To our left was a wall that extended up fifteen feet and then turned into the next path. In front of us was a large room with a broken pathway that went around to the next path.

"Or not? What does 'or not' mean?" Tiara asked.

I could feel unease bubble up in my stomach. "I was expecting a few low stairs in place of that wall and an empty room over there, not this _big_…."

"Whoa, calm down," Yusuke urged, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's just more realistic now. It still looks familiar, right?" I nodded. "Then we're still alright. Lead the way."

I took another deep breath and led the way up the stairs to the broken part in the path and then jumped across to help whoever came next. We crossed another gap in the path and then found that there was only a crack in the wall that we could use to go around the corner and climb up to the higher path. But when it was my turn, I spotted a different path on the opposite side of the room and, like all good tomb raiders do, moved to explore where it went.

"Where are you going?" Tiara asked.

"To see what's up here, I'll be back."

"We didn't come here for you to play around, Kat. Let's go," Yusuke called.

I turned back after I had climbed up and glared. "Yusuke, there's an alternate path so it's a safe bet that it leads somewhere important. There may be some supplies up here and since things have changed up a bit, we will more than likely need them. I'll be right back."

I followed the path over a few more breaks and then had to slide when the rock sloped. I jumped over the upcoming gap and pulled up into an outcropping to find….nothing. Now I was going to hear it. From the other side of the outcropping, I could see a crack in the wall above where the rest of my group waited and I utilized that to get over.

"So?" Yusuke asked with a smug look on his face.

"Shut up, Urameshi," I growled, walking toward the other end of the path.

"I told you—"

"Bat!" screamed Dusty.

Yusuke looked back at her. "No, I didn't."

Dusty pointed behind him and shakily reiterated, "No, bat," and then hid behind Tayg.

Kurama and Christy decapitated all three before I could get a good look but even from this distance I could clearly see they grow 'em big in these parts.

"Dusty, come out, it's okay," I coaxed. She peeked out to make sure I wasn't lying. "I have a job for you."

She followed me off to the left that seemed like a dead end. Once she stood on top of a pile of snow, though, she could see a hidden ledge up above. She disappeared into the pocket and reappeared a moment later. She was glaring at me when she jumped down and thrust a medi-pack into my hands.

"What?"

"I'm not letting you give me jobs anymore," she stated. "I had to touch a skeleton to get that."

"Really? That wasn't in the first game."

"Well, we've seen there are as many changes as similarities!" I stepped back as she got closer to me, but her frightening stance faded and she turned back to our team. "Whatever."

I apologized when I passed and went all the way down to the end of the path where we hung another left into another large room. Three more bats flew over but Hiei and I disposed of these before Dusty had time to hide again.

Up by where the bats had been resting was another hook which I decided was an alternative route and separated from the group again to go check it out. I had to slide down the collapsed path and jump to reach it but from there I could swing to a crack in the wall. Now was the time to test my new skills, if I fell from here, I would definitely break my legs and possibly other things.

From the end of the crack, I could see a ledge jutting out a little behind me. Calming my nerves, I prepared to grab it and then pushed my legs against the wall, springing backwards and spinning in midair. The breath I was holding rushed out when my hands caught the wall and then I dropped down to the lower ledge where my feet had been resting. I shimmied around to the right and at that point could see that my destination was as empty as the last time I ventured off. Was the whole adventure going to be this way? At least I was getting in some good training.

I had to jump and turn in the air again to catch a ledge closer to the ground and then I could safely drop down but it shook me up just as bad as it had last time. I didn't even hear the squeaks or the flapping of wings as I dropped through the air and then walked to a hole in the ground, leading to a tunnel.

Dusty once again alerted us to the bats, but only when one was about to wrap around her head. She screamed as she whipped around, threw her hand up to protect her face….

And sliced right through the bat. She stared at it in shock and then sighed before smiling broadly, clearly radiating, _Maybe I _can_ get used to this._

We followed the tunnel down to a switch that caused the door to slide up. We rounded another bend in the path and found ourselves in a large room. Well, large by this level's standards. There was a walkway to our right that led to an old wooden bridge stretched across a wide, shallow pit in the center. There was another bridge in the distance—higher than this one—that led to the exit of this room.

Tiara took the lead in following the walkway and testing the bridge. She was halfway across when howls of hungry wolves met our ears and they appeared from their den in the pit. Tiara was safe until a snap met our ears, the old wooden planks fell and the entire bridge collapsed underneath her.

"Tiara!"

Yusuke dove off the ledge we were standing on and landed on top of a wolf, breaking its neck but the other was too close to Tiara for him to get there in time. She seemed doomed until Hiei suddenly dropped down in front of her and stabbed it in the rib cage. How he got over there so quick without his super speed I'll never know.

I hopped into the pit and ran over to my friend, searching her for wounds. "Are you okay?"

And even after that, Tiara laughed. "Katie, after all the times I've been hit in the head with stuff and fallen off of things, you think a little drop like that would hurt me?"

I smiled and left Yusuke to watch after her while I went to check the remainder of the bridge. It was sturdy enough that we could use the planks to climb up. Once up on the upper level, we had to climb up ten more feet to access the second bridge. But then I noticed some bricks sticking out on some pillars behind us that were holding up the ceiling. My eyes followed the strange pattern and then focused on the hole in the wall which had a skeleton's hand hanging out. _Where there's dead people, there's bound to be supplies. _

"Hey, Tayg," I called to the fairy underneath me. "Once we get up here, do you think you could fly into that hole and see if that skeleton has anything of use to us?"

He nodded and once Dusty was up on firm ground, he flew over and explored the hole. When he returned, he was giving us an Irish grin of triumph and held up a medi-pack. _Yes!_

Now we crossed the second bridge which, thankfully, didn't fall out from under us and we came into a new room, this one damper as more foliage was beginning to creep up the walls. We walked through some pillars holding up the ceiling and found that the floor we were crossing had caved in; only a rope dangled from the ceiling.

"Think we could use that rope to swing over to the hole with the medi-pack?" Dusty inquired.

I looked to the left of the caved in floor where there was also an indentation in the wall. Sure enough, a bundle of what looked like medical supplies was nestled inside.

"Wow, good work, Dusty. I didn't even notice that. But yeah, I think that will work. You want to try it?"

She nodded when she decided this job would be better since there were no dead people involved. She backed up from the ledge and got a running start, but when she was in the air, a roar from underneath her caused her to lose her concentration and she missed grabbing the rope.

The fall wasn't a long one but all the same, she turned and glared at the source of the noise. She wasn't planning on coming face to snout with a rather large, drooling brown bear.

"Uh...." she stuttered, backing away slowing from the hungry animal. "H-help!"

The call wasn't needed since Kurama had already taken the liberty of disposing of the bear with his whip in a rather gruesome display....Well, to Dusty since she was eye level with the scene. The bear's head rolled to her feet.

Running over the wall opposite the one with the medi-pack with an available place to climb up, she told me, "I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this tomb raiding stuff," as I climbed down to meet her.

"You just need some practice. I don't even know what's coming up anymore since stuff has changed around but since I've played this game so many times, I can perform most of the moves. You'll get better as we go along. Try getting that medi-pack again, I'm going to check the den."

She climbed up and I crept into the den, hoping the bear didn't have a family now. Fortunately it didn't and there was a switch which moved one of the cave walls so I could get out another way. I thought this was another trip that would end up with me empty handed but as I walked back to the bridge room, my foot kicked something smooth out over the ledge and onto a wolf hide.

Once I hopped down, I found it to be a large tooth which, with a little polishing, would make a nice necklace. _I wonder if Hiei would think that was corny; maybe I'll give it to him._

It took me all of four minutes to make my way back to the bear room but everyone was already wondering if something had eaten me.

"No, guys, I'm fine," I said, still rubbing the smooth surface of the tooth.

Kuwabara jumped and then demanded how I had snuck up behind him. I ignored him and presented the tooth to Hiei. Dusty returned with the medical supplies she had succeeded in getting but Hiei still didn't say anything. Instead he just took the gift from my hand and pocketed it before he turned and proceeded to cross the hole in the floor to some stairs on the other side. I followed, wondering what that meant.

The next room had even more vegetation and water dripped from a collapsed wooden structure above us. I couldn't tell what it had been but I guessed a big bridge from the way the large wooden logs were positioned. A golden pole with some sort of animal head carved into the end hung out above a shallow pit in front of us which Kurama utilized to perform one of the gymnastic flips I had done back in Lara's gym to a ledge across the way. My good-looking friend doing something that graceful was a nice sight to behold.

The rest of our group had a little more trouble crossing than Hiei and I did, but we all made it and followed a corridor into an even larger room with a huge wooden door at the other end. There was a pressure pad in front of us that activated eight more arrow traps and it was with little trouble that we passed under these.

Another pressure pad in front of the door attempted to remove a wooden barring from the door, which if you stood there and stared at it was also creepy. The door as big as it was was intimidating enough, but if you focused on the worn carvings in the wooden surface, you could see a face with large teeth that were holding the bar. The bar itself jiggled, but did not remove itself and we were still locked from the exit.

"What do you think, Kurama?" I asked the redhead and he gave me a look that asked _You don't know?_ "It wasn't like this in the other game. Not totally."

He studied the door for a moment and then pointed at two more large bars at the top. "Those are what are keeping the door from opening. If we could find a way to move them..."

"I could try up there," I suggested and indicated a wall to our left that was crumbling but would allow a couple people to climb up to an upper portion of the room. "Hiei, come with me."

He was already at my side before I finished the sentence and we made our way up. At the top, I could clearly make out a carved, rock weight about the size of a door that was attached to the bar on the door.

"So I guess we should move it." Then I heard the sound of metal meeting flesh and turned to see Hiei with his sword in a wolf that had snuck up on me.

"You should try to use those ears you have," he spoke, flinging the blood from his blade.

I didn't bother to retaliate as I was already on my way up and around the wall that would take me to the weight. I wasn't sure how I was going to bring it down but when I jumped over to it and caught the bottom of the carving, the weight began to sink and I knew I just had to offset what was holding it up.

I dropped to the floor and smiled at Hiei. Maybe I didn't always pick up on things that were trying to eat me, but at least I used my brain….most of the time.

_Thunk.....thunk.....thunk._

We both looked around the large room but couldn't find the source of the noise.

_Thunk.....thunk.....thunk. _

I turned back to the weight and saw it was higher than when I left it. _Thunk._ It raised another half a foot.

"Oh jeez, it's timed!" I informed Hiei and took off running to the other end of this floor in search of the other weight.

We reached the other end and still the weight was nowhere in sight....until I looked across the room and found there was a second floor on the other side, too, that was accessible via three poles. We put our acrobatic skills to work and made it across in record time. There two more wolves showed up. I hit one as I ran past and Hiei stayed behind to take out the other.

_There!_ I could see the weight up ahead but getting up to it was another situation. It took me about thirty seconds to spy the rotating pole above my head and the bricks in the wall to the right that would allow me to reach it. I scrambled up them and sprang backwards, giving myself enough momentum to make the metal of the pole squeal as it rotated so I was facing the weight. I flipped off and clutched the carving, dragging the weight down with me. The other bar pulled up from the door.

Running to a nearby slanted edge that went to the floor, I could faintly make out the weight on the other side of the room. It was almost back to its original position. I wasted no time in sliding down the slanted wall, calling to my group along the way, "Hit the pressure pad!"

Yusuke checked his position and, being the closest, stepped backwards onto it, removing the bar in the carving's teeth and freeing the doors. This, in turn, freed us to go on to the next level: Vilcabamba.

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A/N: Whew! That was a long one! I guess that could be both good or bad depending on how much you like to read. The next chapter will be a bit slower paced, but the story will gain more action again after that. I hope you enjoyed it!

Please Review!!

~Kateracks


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Tomb Raider.

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Chapter Seven–The Legend Lives

No sooner had the doors opened and we entered than a bear came charging out at us. No one twitched because we knew that someone would take care of it before it became a real threat. Christy was the lucky executioner this time.

We followed a long hall that wove around to the right and led us into a room with a shallow pit and two vertical, wooden columns that we could use to get to the path on the other side. It had a lot of green plants sprouting around, too; it seemed like the rooms were increasing in vegetation all the time. Probably because of how close we were to the next level: The Lost Valley.

I could make out random leg bones in the pit and went to check for supplies with the help of the wooden column. Lucky for me, playing Kingdom Hearts and making Sora climb palm trees gave me an idea of how to climb the poles without getting too many splinters. Sure enough, there was an abandoned wolf den nestled under the ledge the rest of the group was standing on and there was a shredded backpack with a medi-pack inside.

Climbing back up the pole was a lot more difficult than sliding down. In fact, I had to use a knife that I kept in my boot to pull myself up while digging my boot heels into the soggy wood. It was very awkward position and I knew right away that Yusuke had picked up on it.

"Oh yeah, Kat," he called down just because he knew it would grind on my nerves. "You totally turn me on when you do that." I glared up at him and Tiara elbowed him in the ribs.

Then I gave him a sickly sweet smile. "Oh yeah, smart guy? You're going to have to do it, too." _And it's going to be a lot more uncomfortable for you that it is for me._

I love being right! Dusty had the same idea I did about how to use the columns after all the times she had watched me play Kingdom Hearts but the boys had more difficulty than we did. In fact, we girls and Tayg (he and Tiara had obviously flown over by now) were tangled in a laughing fit on the other side of the pit by the time they had all made it over.

They didn't even wait for us to catch our breath before they proceeded in following the next path that went around to the left. There were lots of green fungi on the walls and the ground was littered with skeletal parts but they seemed to be a trail to a pocket in the belly of the mountain. There was a hole from where we entered and we could see sunlight peeking in through the moss covered rocks in the ceiling. It was very long and crept along the cave walls, hiding the skylight entrance well and even hanging into our view although we were about thirty feet down. Nestled on the green floor of the cave was a small group of huts. To our left was a flight of stairs that curved around to the huts and from there we could hear running water.

"Remember that legend I read to you guys at Lara's house about Vilcabamba?" I gestured to the small gathering of huts. "You have found the 'legend'."

"So this is Vilcabamba?" Kuwabara asked. "What was the last place called?"

I shrugged. "Just some mountain caves. They mostly just served the purpose of getting tomb raider training."

We followed the stairs and were attacked by two wolves and then we stumbled down five stairs to the more level ground around the hut. The source of the water sound was a small stream that was cascading down into a square holding pool in the center of the gathering of houses–four of them total. We couldn't enter any of the buildings and when we made our way to a gate on the other side of the area, a bear ran out from between two on the right. Hiei and I ganged up on this one and he didn't stand a chance.

Kuwabara checked the gate but it was locked with some sturdy wood that we wouldn't be able to kick down.

"There's a keyhole," Dumbhead called to us. "Where's the key, Shorty?"

I shrugged, remembering there was no key in the first game. There was, however, a secret nearby. I turned and headed back to the pool the stream was flowing into.

"This is fairly deep," I told my band of explorers. "And the water has to be flowing somewhere so that it doesn't flood the cave. If I were to hide something, it would be down there. In the last game, once you went down there, you would eventually find your way back here. Hiei and I will go check it out and if it doesn't lead back here, one of us will come back and get you."

I didn't wait for their approval and submerged in the water with my Guardian close behind. The tunnels that we swam through were carved with many Incan inscriptions; I wanted to take time to read them but I'm not a champion at holding my breath so we pressed on. Three quarters of the way, our destination was blocked with several wooden columns which were a chore to squeeze through. From there it was a short swim to the surface.

When Hiei pulled up from the water, I was already making my way around the room and fingering the various tanned hides stretched out on the walls—the main kill being raccoons. There was a switch on one wall that opened up to where our troop was waiting and we pulled that to let them in. There was also a wooden ramp in there that led to a window upstairs and we gained access to another of the locked buildings.

Once I jumped through, a wooden platform that was on the other side screeched in protest and then folded underneath me, dropping me onto the floor about eight feet below.

The landing was a soft one as I fell onto a pile of woven baskets and I'm betting the landing was a soft one for Tiara who came in next and fell on top of me. She shot off of me before I voiced my discomfort and backed into a wall that rattled with spears.

She screamed, not because of the spears but because of what was the source of the rattling noise—human skulls were pierced on top and planted all around the room. But what was even more disgusting than that was what was in the cage—half of a mummified person. Yes, _half_, as in just a torso and a head with no limbs, wrapped in embalming and hanging from the top of the cage. You can imagine the smell for yourself.

It wouldn't have so bad if it was still in crappy animation and if we could just walk right back out (which we could have since there was a gate we could shoot open) but we still had to find the key and in order to do that, we had to access the tunnel behind the cage. One of us had to move it. We elected Yusuke to do it.

He pulled it out of the hole first and we sent Kurama to climb on top and reach a hole in the wall above. In there was another small medi-pack surrounded by skulls on spears. He wasn't creeped out by them.

Next we had Yusuke push the cage back through the tunnel and came into a room that I recognized instantly from the other game. It had a path before us that branched left and right but it also had a second level. After I had collected some shotgun shells and the golden village key, I climbed on top of the cage and retrieved another medical kit and some more shotgun ammo.

Now we exited back through the tunnel and into the village square again to use the key. The gate slid up and inside, it was foggy around a pillar in the center in which was carved an Incan face. A howl met our ears and then two wolves attacked us, soon meeting their end.

We walked around the pillar and came into larger room where another wolf met its end. There was less vegetation in this room, mostly just stone walls with paint made from what I guessed was plant roots or clay. Stairs were before us leading up to three doors, one of a triangular shape on either side of a tall stone door that was the exit and on either side of the steps was a pot with golden Incan faces imprinted on them. It was a beautiful sight until you looked a bit higher and saw more spears with skulls stuck in the pots instead of plants.

"The Incas are a very morbid culture," Dusty remarked.

"Aye, but take notice o' th' door, lass," Tayg said.

"Yes," Kurama agreed. "All that we have seen while we were here was made by the Incan people. They were a very advanced culture."

"Indeed. It looks like the shapes on those rotating columns match the engravings on the big door, wouldn't you say?" I consulted the fox.

He inspected the next puzzle and then nodded. "Yes, and it looks like the gears to turn the columns are up above. I would guess that's what the two smaller doors lead to."

"Not that it really matters now, but in the old game, you started with the left door. That's where I think we should start."

The room inside this door had a pool in the center with a broken walkway extending out over it to the left. We could jump to another section from this portion but the rest of the walkway was no where to be found. The old stone was probably worn off and dissolved by the water. However, where it used to be were chunks still sticking out from the wall that we could grab and use to shimmy over and jump to the door.

The path inside the door circled around to the left so that when we gave out again, we were above the room. Here we had to take out two bats and jump across another broken portion of the walkway but then we were up above the exit door.

We could plainly see the turning mechanism for the column and a handle that one of us would have to hang on to in order for it to turn. Dusty was assigned this task which she had no trouble with, though it was a little scary for all of us when the column sank down a foot or two to position the piece behind the holder in the door. The technology of the Incan culture was truly something to marvel at.

Our journey back to the floor involved the use of the other door on the right and the ledges above it. Inside this room, it was the same process to get up above the exit door again. There was a small medi-pack in the pool of the room and then we had to climb around the walls on the right to get to the path the circled right and let us out above the room. Two more bats fell to Hiei's blade and then we hopped the gap and we once again faced with the rotating column. Tiara was allowed to handle this one and then we again used the door's ledges to get back to the floor.

"Not much longer now, guys, and then we'll get into the fun stuff," I grinned.

So far the levels had had the general layout of the old game and I could still navigate so I wasn't worried about the remainder. I figured we could make it through a few more levels before we would have to stop for the night. We would be out of here in no time.

We walked along the tunnel that was hidden by the large door, weaving our way around corners until we came to a room with a rock slope that slanted in the direction of a pole. From the pole, we could flip over to a ledge that was hanging not too far from a wooden spire.

One of my boots slipped when I hit the knocked off point of the spire but I managed to regain my balance. Dusty and Yusuke had the same problem but Kuwabara was the worst of us. He actually fell backwards off the spire and landed in the pit some ten feet below. It's a good thing he's used to falling, much like Tiara. But I suppose it was a good thing that he did end up down there because after he lured a wolf out and I shot it, he found some shotgun shells. It was also good entertainment for the rest of us to watch him act like a girl as he dragged a cage with another mummified half-person over so he could reach the ledge again.

He made it over the spire this time and we continued on the path to another room with a low pit, a ledge with arrow traps this time, and another wooden spire. The jump was too far from where we stood to the next ledge so we had to climb down into the pit this time and exploit a rock and a crack at the other end to get to a pole sticking out of the spire. A corner by the arrow trap could permit us to jump backwards onto the point of the spire and from there, to the pathway out of here.

As we walked, the walls suddenly became greener and the air was more humid. We rounded a corner and a wolf howl announced our presence in the next level but it sounded far away so we didn't have to fight yet. In the distance, we could see an enormous waterfall spraying mist everywhere as it crashed into a pool below. Thundering water greeted our ears and I knew from here on out, Tiara and Tayg would have more difficulty flying to where they wanted to go.

I turned the my assemblage of merry tomb raiders and smiled as this was one of my favorite levels in the old version. "Welcome to The Lost Valley."

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**A/N:** I know, I know, it was a really boring chapter, but at least it was short, right? It was only a filler for the action that is to come in the next chapter.

Also, I don't know how many of my Kingdom Hearts people are reading this story, but if you are into Kingdom Hearts, I was informed of some very exciting news that you may or may not know already. Kingdom Hearts Re:CoM was released in the US today!! Woot!! As far as I know, though, most of the released copies are online and a lot of the regular stores (in my area anyway) won't be getting it until next week. But that won't stop me from being excited! It's probably for the best anyway. If I had a new game right now, there is no way that I would study for my finals next week. Yuck! Hope the rest of you had as exciting a day as I did!

Please Review!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

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Chapter Eight—How Much Pain Can Three Cogs Cause?

Upon entering the next room, we were forced directly into a battle by a pack of wolves protecting their territory. It was a lot nicer of a setup from the original, if you asked me. In the original version, you started at the top of the falls and worked your way down and a wrong step could lead to a dangerous fall for you. Now we had to work our way up the falls where….come to think of it, a wrong step could also kill you in this version, judging by how precariously broken the pathway to the top now was after years of being beat at by the rushing water and there being no maintenance.

I wagged my tail excitedly as I recognized the objective of this level off to our right. Extending up probably a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet (about the same height of the water fall) was a large wooden mechanism for lowering a stone and cutting off the water supply to the falls. Therein laid our exit but three of the colossal cogs were not moving, meaning three of the puzzle pieces were missing.

"Hey, Katie," Dusty called and when I looked to her, she was walking left to the beginning of the trail up to the top of the waterfall. Conveniently placed on the first of the slippery rocks was the first missing piece. "Do you want me to make a guess what this is for?"

I smirked, glad that she was getting more comfortable with the tomb raiding idea a little at a time. "No, that's alright, but I don't think there's a point in using it until we have all three. Let's try above the falls first."

Making our ascent was more difficult than it looked from the ground as most of the ledges necessary to climbing up were being hit by the spray. Hands kept slipping and there was no grip for feet but after seventy five feet of rocking climbing tricks like you would be entertained by at Casa Bonita, we made it to some drier ledges that extended up for ten more feet and then a walkway that led up to the top. Tiara and Tayg were already there waiting and laughing at our plight, but the spray had coated their wings on the way up meaning they wouldn't be flying on the way down.

A short walk along the river brought us to an outcropping that used to be a small bridge over the water but had long ago collapsed; we had to jump across now.

"Great. How are we going to get up there now?" Yusuke complained as he caught sight of the broken wooden pieces of a what used to be a ladder going up to the next level of the ground fifteen feet up.

We all considered this but it was Tiara who spoke up, "Yusuke, remember when you told me about Maze Castle? The plant people were attacking you guys and there was no way to get up to the tower where Keiko was being held except for a window way up high?"

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, I had to use these guys' shoulders as a springboard to jump up." He gestured to his detective team and then his eyes lit up with understanding. "Right. You go first, T, it was your idea."

Tiara used the wall to keep her balance as she stepped up onto her Guardian's shoulders and then he slowly stood until she could reach the ledge above and climb onto solid ground. The rest of us were lifted also before we helped Yusuke up and then we were faced with another dilemma. The next place was above our heads and on the other side of the river.

"Too bad that bridge isn't lower," Kuwabara complained and I looked up to where he had seen the bridge. It was tied up to the cave ceiling but it would be easy to get down.

"I guess we'll just have to lower it, then. Christy, why don't you use your whip and bring it down?"

She nodded and took a step forward while we all stepped back so she could spin her whip to get some momentum. Then she flicked her wrist forward and pulled back when the sharp end wrapped around the ropes. The bridge fell into place but the old, soggy planks snapped off into the water below.

"Frick," I muttered and then noted the pole still remaining in the bridge's frame. Now to get to it….

I reached around the corner of the wall and fingered the rocks sticking out until I found one that would work for a hand hold and then another. Those being found, I swung out above the racing water beneath us and braced my boots against the rough surface. Looking directly at the wall, it was easier to find more hand holds that could be used to access the pole. Once on the other side, I used the grapple to help the rest of my team get across.

The next short path spit us out quite a distance from the next available stone bridge but there was a support hook in a stone arch above us that would allow us to get over there.

"Now what?" Yusuke asked, noticing the collapsed ladder that was suppose to take us to the bridge above. "I can't do the springboard trick unless I have a wall to lean on and the ledge sticks out."

I knew he would be too tired to do that again anyway. He didn't have his hanyou strength anymore. "Now I play Spider-woman and climb that wall while you guys take a break. Be back in a flash."

I probably looked like Reno in Advent Children when he was climbing a building as I scrambled up the slippery rocks, nearly falling more than enough for my tastes. The ledge that my companions rested on overlooked the bottom of a canyon with a waterfall on either side and a rather long wooden bridge leading to some more broken cogs. That's where I was headed in hopes of finding the second of the missing pieces.

I took careful steps in crossing the rickety bridge so I could listen for any weak spots and then inspected the remains of the wooden cogs. There were none small enough to match the one we already had so this was another fruitless excursion.

The flapping of wings registered in my mind and then, "Katie! Behind you!"

Sprinning with guns raised, I cracked off four shots and took down the two bats that had snuck up on me. Unfortunately, I also took out the ropes behind the bats that were holding the bridge up.

"Damnit!" I cursed as I watched the bridge split in half. I wouldn't be getting back that way. However, built over the waterfall to my left was a wooden cog that was spinning and not doing anything since its partners had fallen off. Jabbed into the wood of this cog was a metal pole. _Wonderful._

I took a running jump out to the pole as it came around my way and then shut my eyes as I continued swinging to keep up enough speed to make the next jump. It was not a smart move on my part but I couldn't afford to miss my intended target just because I was dizzy. Once I felt the cog rotate the pole back upward, I took a leap of faith and grasped onto another support built into the rocks of the waterfall.

A moment later, I had recovered my nerve enough to climb around closer to the ledge where my friends awaited me. But when I was about to take another leap over to them, I noticed a doorway up above that would guarantee my making it back safely. I jumped to it and then followed the tunnel inside which put me up above my friends but also showed me a switch I couldn't have seen from anywhere else. I pulled it and waited for something to happen but nothing did. _Great, another dead end._

Lowering myself over the edge, I quickly found some stone to use for my descent to my friends. About three quarters of the way down, though, the rock that I was hanging onto pulled out from the wall and my boot slipped at the same time so that I fell the rest of the way.

I landed unsteadily on my feet but Tiara took a step back so that I wouldn't hit her, and then her foot slipped and she fell backwards. I grabbed her hand as she fell, stopping her for just a moment until my wet hand slipped from hers and she hit the water anyway.

Shrugging, I then jumped in after her. After all, it was an easier route down even if it did ensure that Tiara and Tayg had a walking tour of the rest of the level. I heard the splashes of the rest of our team following us and then I kicked with the current to propel myself up to Tiara's side.

"Tuck your wings and grab your knees!" I advised her over the rush of the water and then did the same as the waves pushed us out over the waterfall itself.

For a second, it seemed as though we were suspended in the air and then we plummeted down to the pool below.

"CANNONBALL!!!" _I always wanted to say that._

The impact with the water didn't hurt as bad in this position as long as one remembered to hide their face in their knees. I opened my eyes once I was down several feet and then turned in time to watch Tiara swim to the surface as Yusuke hit. Then an underwater cave taught my attention and I swam resurfaced for air long enough to see Kurama perform a very stylish swan dive (How he does that without looking gay, I still don't know) and then dove back under the check out the cave.

When I returned, Kuwabara was asking, "Hey, where did Shorty go?" as he poured water from his shoes.

"Here," I replied and plopped a sopping wet medi-pack into his lap. I then took note of the three extra wolf corpses at Hiei's feet. "Hey, where did those guys come from?" He simply shrugged.

"So I guess that trip was completely a waste of time," Yusuke assumed since we had still come back with only one cog.

"Not necessarily," Kurama supplied. "When Kat pulled that switch, I saw a sudden change in the water's current for a split second."

"Probably a newly opened underwater cave, huh?" I guessed. "So we'll have to cut off the water supply to see what it actually was. I hope I'm right and it's hiding the shotgun."

"But before we can do that, we have to put this bad boy in, right?" Dusty asked, holding up the cog.

I nodded. "We might as well since we still don't know where the other ones are."

We walked to the ladder and climbed it up to the first of the missing cogs and—

"Oy, lass, 'ere's th' secon' one," Tayg called out since he was above me on the ladder.

_Two down, one to go. _I grinned and ushered Dusty to put in the first one and pull the switch. The small cog moved up and next to it's bigger brother and sank into the wall, moving the other.

"Okay, that was cool, but now what do we do?" Dusty asked, seemingly frustrated that a path hadn't slid out of the wall or something.

"Well, the second of the unmoving cogs is up there." I pointed above us about fifteen feet and then gestured to one of the cogs that was moving that had a pole. "And that's how we're getting there."

"Are you kidding me?" Christy blurted. "Did the Incas honestly expect the people maintaining this whole system to do all of these tricks?"

"They were prolly in great shape, lass," Tayg joked.

"Well I can't do it," she finished.

"That's what I'm here for," I mumbled, getting ready to jump up the next time the pole came around. "To make things easier on people. But I don't think my grapple can reach that far. We'll have to do some trapeze acts here; Hiei, you're my partner. Do you get dizzy easily?"

He smirked. "Hn, no onna, you should know better than that."

I smiled and then used the pole on the first cog to spin and jump onto one of two poles on the next, much larger cog. Hiei followed suit and took his position on the second pole and then we turned so we were hanging on by our knees. The idea was to have someone use the first cog to get over to Hiei and he would swing them to me and I would swing them over to a ladder.

Kurama was the first to test our idea so that he could make sure Christy got over safely. As Hiei swung him over to me, I laughed and sang, "_The handsome young man on the flying trapeze_" before I flipped him over to the ladder.

It went smooth enough and soon we were all up to the next spot for the missing cog. Tayg put this one on and it moved left to a cog with a rotating bridge attached to it. That would be fun.

"I bet we're supposed to go over there for the last one," Kuwabara spoke and gestured across the room where a break in the cave wall revealed a trail. For once he was right.

We had to utilize a crack in the wall to ascend to the next wooden platform that would later be used to get to the last place missing a cog. For now it was just a step up to another wall that we had to climb around to reach a rope that probably helped suspend a bridge of some sort in its better days. For now it was just hanging loosely but it was just what we needed to swing the rest of the way over to our destination.

I dropped down first and a bridge that had been pulled up against the wall, fell down and split, revealing another metal pole. I deduced that we would be using that later to get back to the ground. For now we continued along the trail, climbing over rocks and squeezing through incredibly tight places.

After we passed under a stone arch and disposed of a bear, we found ourselves in an opening with light seeping through the roof. In the middle of the space, a wooden structure built over some rocks extended up to a tunnel opening that would hopefully take us closer to that glorious sunlight. In case someone is taking notes, it's not too sunny in tombs.

It was a small matter to climb to the top of the structure where we were then faced with the problem of getting over to the tunnel opening. There was a ramp against one wall that led to an opening nearby but it looked much too steep to climb, not like it had purposefully been left there. It seemed there used to be another level on the structure above the one on which we stood but had long ago met its end. However, the support beams were still in place which could act as spires.

"That ivy over there looks like it could support a person's weight, Kat," Kurama informed me.

I decided to try it out. Since we all know how knowledgeable Kurama is with plants, it's easy to assume that he was correct on this matter also and after balancing on the support beams, I landed safely in the tunnel. Hiei came next and helped me pull up those who didn't want to deal with the beams. It's amazing how sturdy my little grapple is. I was beginning to think it would last us the whole trip.

"Here," Tiara said and set some magazines in my hand.

"What's this?" I wondered, but it wasn't directed toward Tiara.

She answered anyway. "Some ammo? I dunno, it was on that wooden thing."

I held it up to the sunlight to read what was imprinted in the metal. "_Fifty caliber pistol rounds._"

"Is that what you have in your guns now?" Dusty asked.

"No, these are less powerful than fifty caliber rounds. The fifty caliber rounds are found in big handguns like the Desert Eagle. You remember that picture I drew of my character Vivo? He had Desert Eagles. My question is, though, did they replace my beloved magnums with this? Well, I guess in the broadest sense Desert Eagles are still magnums but my hands aren't big enough to handle those."

My group looked befuddled by my talk of guns so I shut my mouth and followed the tunnel before us. It brought us up some stairs to a very deep, dark pit. There used to be wooden flooring over it, judging by the pieced together sections that were now sloping into unstable ramps over the pit.

After plotting all possible routes in my mind, I decided on using the ramp in front of us which took us to a place in the wall where the ramp used to be attached. There was still a bit rock sticking out which we used to get over to a leftover platform in the corner and from there, a rock ledge over into the next section of the large winding canyon.

On the wall to our left was another few feet of protruding stone that connected to a stone trail where a bit of foggy sunlight peeked in. It was too far away to reach by jumping from where we were standing, though, so we were going to have to gain the assistance of some more ivy on our right. This method also required another mid-air spin jump that scared the crap out of me considering we were up so high. Yeah, there's no fear of heights in this girl but there is an extreme fear of falling to the death.

But despite my nervousness, I made it to the stone lining without error….that is, until sharp fangs latched onto my calf. I squealed more from surprise than from the pin-prick amount of pain but it was enough to send me into a ridiculous dance to get it off.

With my boot locked against the wall and my hands secured in the ivy growing above the stone, I flipped sideways and swung my leg back into the rock to dislodge the flying rat from my leg. Christy promptly beheaded it so it wouldn't come back for revenge. Of course, that wouldn't be the end of it either. A second bat had its sights set on my noggin and when I reached for my pistol to take it out, the ivy broke so I had to go back to holding onto the stone lining.

Blade met flesh and fur as Hiei took a flying leap from the opposite wall and took out my attacker before forcing his katana into the stone wall near me so he wouldn't fall to his doom.

As we both hung there in the stirred up dust, I chuckled while he found his grips in the wall. "That was cool. Do you do things like that when you're watching after Yukina, too?"

He glared at me. "Keep quiet, fool. The oaf has yet to find out that I am Yukina's brother."

"My bad." I continued to chuckle until I finally climbed up to solid ground. "Come on, guys, Hiei and I handled the hard part."

Their journey across was much easier and then we were going along a long, winding green path in search of a way to reach that wondrous sunlight that kept appearing at random intervals in the cave ceiling. Finally, we reached the end of the tunnel where we could squeeze out through some boulders and go outside. The only thing standing between us and freedom was wooden slats covering a break in the floor before us which had partially caved in. That would be easy to cross.

….Or it would have been easy if we all hadn't stepped on it at once and the wood crumbled underneath us, sending us down a twenty foot moss-covered slide.

Tiara stumbled out in front of me and I was proud of her for staying on her feet….until she tripped over a rock and face planted her way out of the cave and into the blinding sunlight.

She raiser her face from a cushion of lush grass and then we heard, "Whoa! Come here, you guys!"

We rushed out to see what had her so excited and found ourselves in a stunning valley. Trees, mosses, luxurious grasses, and other plants of all kind turned the dull grey surrounding rock walls a vibrant green. Dragonflies, bees, butterflies, and birds zipped and fluttered from plant to plant as though all were right in the world. Miniature waterfalls bubbled out from the rock walls, feeding the overgrown vegetation.

The only thing that seemed out of place in this baby paradise was the broken bridge twenty-five feet off the ground. When I say broken, though, I don't mean that it had deteriorated over time, I mean that it looked like someone had crashed through it with a bulldozer. That was definitely a bad sign.

"Kat," Yusuke addressed me. He had wandered over to the nearest waterfall and had picked up a small medi-pack but he was still bent over, looking at something. "If this guy had plants to eat and water to drink, why would be have died right here?"

"Any bones left?"

"Some. His skull's been crushed and some of his ribs are missing….and his leg is carved up."

"My guess is that it was something bigger than a wolf and with a lot more teeth."

"Like a bear?" inquired Tiara hopefully.

A noise from a new predator sent us all on high alert. It was kind of like a roar from a small jungle cat but it was raspier and it echoed off the walls so we couldn't pinpoint its origin.

"Wha' kin'a bear makes tha' noise?" Tayg asked as I drew my guns and did a scan in search of escape.

"None. Tiara, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Tayg, I think you guys should get on that boulder over there." I directed them to the tallest one in the valley and then stepped forward as our predator came into view. There were three, actually. They were, I think, what the scientists call velociraptors. _Is there more than one kind of raptor?_

However, there was no need for my guns or Dusty's claws as Christy, Kurama, and Hiei quickly dealt with those troublemakers.

"I think it's cool how Dusty is protecting Tayg instead of the other way around," I laughed and Tayg grinned sheepishly.

"I wasna expectin' t' have me powers get taken away, lil vixen."

I grinned at the nickname since I was hardly the foxy sort (even if I did joke like I was) and turned back as three more of the red dinosaurs popped out of the long grass. These, too, were no serious matter although Dusty did get in on the action this time.

A few minutes later, I finally let my alert level drop to yellow and lowered my guns. This was apparently a signal that it was safe to get off of the boulder as Kuwabara slid off and cautiously began to stroll farther into the valley, observing bugs and plants alike. In the distance was a stone….well, I wouldn't call it temple but it looked like an important building because it had man-like statues guarding the entrance.

One lone raptor appeared around the end of one of the valley walls and I elbowed Yusuke. "You better get dumbhead back here."

"Uh, hey, Kuwa," Yusuke began and then a raptor came flying around that same wall and slammed into Kuwabara, sending them both crashing into the opposite stone wall.

Our orange haired friend fell limply to the ground and Tiara cried, "Kuwabara!" as everyone surged forward to help him. Almost everyone. I had felt the ground shake and then saw a wave of raptors running the opposite direction of their prey.

"They're running from something," I stated and Kurama paused beside me with a questioning look on his face only seconds before a T-Rex also ran around the valley wall, a very brave little raptor taking a bite out of its side.

This was a great shock, not only because there was a living, breathing T-Rex standing in this valley with us but because the largest T-Rex on record that I knew of was 18 feet and this one was as tall as the bridge which would explain how it was broken.

The Rex's jaws wrapped around the raptor and then hurled it into the wall with which Kuwabara had collided. Tiara shrieked and then fanned her wings out in hopes of shielding herself and Kuwabara. Not a good idea since her butterfly wings were flimsy but an expected natural reaction. They were alright except for the large carnivore still hovering over them.

"Don't move!" I shouted to all my teammates and the beast's head flipped in my direction. "T-Rex's respond to movement!" The Rex charged and I sped off with the herd of raptors that were also fleeing for their lives.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," I chanted as I watched the monster get ever closer to me and then made a hard right, pushing off against the boulder I had my friends stand on just as the creature slammed into the valley wall.

All would have been well if I hadn't ran right back toward a hungry raptor. Dusty was ahead of me, though, and jumped at it, slicing its neck as she passed by. I didn't pause in my running and sprang over the corpse as the speed it had built up carried it under my feet.

Kuwabara was just about standing when we reached our group but then he toppled backwards and disappeared over some sort of bluff. We shakily slid down after him and then found ourselves with no way of escape except for maybe some shelter in the important-looking building.

"What are we gonna do?" Yusuke asked.

I clenched my trembling fists and took a deep breath. "You guys are going to hide out in that building. I'm going to take down the Rex."

"Not by yourself," Kurama told me.

"Yeah, by myself," I insisted. "Lara Croft can handle things a lot bigger than this."

"But you're not Lara," Dusty reminded me.

"I am now and we're probably going to have to face things much worse than this sooner than we want."

"Hn, but this is not something you have to do by yourself, onna," Hiei said, drawing his katana.

"Yes, it is. Someone has to be trained to protect the rest of these guys. They can't afford to lose more than one of us."

"Do you really think you're going to lose, Shorty?" Kuwabara asked, holding his ribs.

I looked at all of their faces. The truth was, I wasn't really sure just how far we were going to make it. They were right, I wasn't Lara Croft—not even close. But that wouldn't stop me from trying.

I put on my determined _Don't-mess-with-me_ face and then ordered, "We don't have time for this. If he can step down over that bluff—and there's no doubt in my mind that he can—than he'll be able to step into that building, too. Get everyone in there and keep them safe. I'll handle this beastie."

I shoved Hiei in the direction that I wanted him to go, receiving a murderous look that he would have meant a beat-down under other circumstances. But as the pounding on the ground grew closer and I pointed a gun at his head, he regretfully (and also with a rather pissed off expression) complied with my wishes.

They just got Tiara lifted into the structure as the Rex stepped over the bluff. Once more, I swallowed the apprehension in my gut and took a deep breath to calm my palpitating heart before I raised my guns and cracked off a few shots at its head.

A loud roar caused me to retreat since it sounded more furious than hurt and I had to breathe deep again as the creature stepped nearer to me. I shot again but the bullets seemed to bounce off of the tough, leathery hide, perhaps only leaving a few scratches. It was enough to make the monster mad, though, and I was surprised when my body automatically dodge-rolled out of the way when it charged. Maybe I _could_ do this.

I did a scan of the surrounding battlefield as the Rex shook off the bump to its head from the wall and discovered three spiked logs on stands. There were two on my left and one—bigger and spikier—on my right. What they were there for, I didn't have a clue but I knew what I was going to use them for.

_I bet if I shoot at it enough that it charges again, I can lure it into hurting itself on those._

I circled around the gargantuan hunter, shooting at all times and lined myself up with one of the two spiked logs. My assumption was correct and after many annoying shots to its hide, the Rex roared at me and charged. I shot at it a few more times and then ducked backward under the safety of the log.

Unfortunately, the Rex stopped short when it lost sight of me, only receiving minor wounds from the barbs. It sniffed uncertainly at the last place it saw me and then scuffed under the log with its huge foot. I was forced to retreat further under my safe haven and sat on a boulder for a moment, gagging on the dirt cluttered air. My attacker heard my coughs, became excited all over again and bumped against the spiked log. It wasn't enough to severely harm itself but it was enough to worry me that the stand might break.

_I'm going to have to use the dodge-roll technique at the last possible second_, I decided and took just a moment longer to regain my courage. Filling my lungs, I dashed out from my sanctuary and right between the beast's legs, swerving around its tail.

I should have swerved farther.

The tail came back around and knocked my feet out from under me along with the wind I had stored up. I gasped for a couple seconds against the sparse grass and then realized that there was still a man-eater after me. I leapt up, drew my gun on my foe….

And found my arm in a pair of very powerful jaws.

Both the Rex and I were confused as to why I was not screaming in agony but as far as I could tell, the explanation for it was that my arm was lodged in between two of its teeth. In rage, the Rex opened its jaws and stood up, only to realize that it hadn't left me on the ground.

Thinking I had gained the upper hand and was now a threat to it, it began thrashing its head from side to side, tossing me around like a rag doll until I finally came loose.

_Thunk!_ Something abruptly stopped my sailing through the air and it wasn't until the nauseating _splurch_ sort of sound reached my mind that the pain suddenly set in. I lay still, suspended on what had stopped me and stared up at the sky until I figured it out. I was on the largest of the three spiked logs and the pain was from one of the barbs piercing my side. I could see it now, it's ugly, aged wood now colored with blood.

Then my hazy mind focused on voices; several called my name and Yusuke shouted, "NO!" This caught the Rex's attention and my mind cleared a little as it stomped toward them all. Somehow one gun had stayed clenched in my fist and I looked behind me to judge how tall the barbs were, a plan already starting to form.

I holstered it for a minute and grabbed two of the barbs surrounding me, taking in a sharp breath as I slowly pulled myself off of the spike. My fox ears picked up Yusuke's continuous cursing and threats of, "That's it, you're going down you damn overgrown lizard!" before Kurama calmly stopped him with, "Wait, look. She has a plan."

Finally I freed myself from the barb after what seemed to me like an hour when it was really only a few moments. I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat and then drew my gun, my hand shaking so hard from the pain that it took me a couple more seconds to focus on the target rapidly approaching my team.

Fire exploded from the end of my pistol as I held the trigger and let out an incessant stream of rounds until the magazine was empty. The T-Rex forgot all about my friends and roared at me angrily before it changed course and prepared to ram me with all it had.

That was exactly the reaction I was looking for.

I re-holstered my lone gun and grabbed a hold of the two barbs I had used earlier at the same time as the beast charged at its top speed. I dropped down so my weight was only being supported by my arms and the barbs, swinging back and forth to prepare for the trick I was about to do.

A split second before the T-Rex impacted with the log, I flipped up and over the barbs to the back where I could grab some other barbs nearer to the ground for shelter. The whole stand shook as the T-Rex ran straight into my deadly trap and then all was still.

I waited for the dust to clear and then relinquished my death grip on the barbs; my legs buckled as soon as I hit the ground sent a shock to my side. I pressed a hand over the hole and attempted to stand when rough hands pulled me up and my arm was draped over Hiei's shoulders.

"Your foolishness is beginning to annoy me," he voiced, his aggravation already obvious.

I didn't get the chance to retaliate before all the excitement caught up with me and I made a pit stop next to the T-Rex's leg to heave all of it out of me. Hiei rolled his eyes and then helped me limp the rest of the way over to our company.

"Holy crap, Kat," Yusuke uttered as I climbed up into the building and my side began dripping.

"I'm fine," I lied, "I just have a major adrenaline rush right now."

Ignoring the rest of his comments, I went further into the structure and found that the whole place had been built around a small waterfall which had carved a pool into the floor. Most likely it had also caused a drain for itself and if this area was the same as in the last game, there was a cog resting in the water.

In an endeavor to prove I was alright, I jumped into the water and nearly inhaled a lungful when the cold froze my wound. But I didn't and near an opening where the water was draining was the last of the cogs. We followed the tunnel and surfaced in another area in the building. It had a spire that we used to access the roof that went all the way around the valley.

When I almost fell off the spire, though, Kurama decided he didn't like how "fine" I was and forced me to sit on the stone roof so he could wrap my side.

"That wasn't very wise, Kat."

"Really?" I asked, wincing as he tugged on the bandage. Is it just me, or did he look angry? Kurama hardly ever gets angry. I guess that's my fault. "Cool it, Kurama, I didn't know I was going to get turned into a shish kabob."

"I feel the need to remind you that I did not agree with your decision."

"If it makes you feel better then fine, remind me all you want. That won't change that I did, in fact, get injured and it also doesn't change how we'll get out of here."

"How do we get out of here, Katie?" Dusty asked. "That slope into here is too steep to climb back up."

"Yeah, but remember before we slid down the slope? We could see daylight, meaning that there was an alternate entrance into the valley. My guess is that it's up here and that bridge has something to do with it."

So with that said, I waved Kurama's mother hen attitude and began our journey along the roof to the other side of the fighting area below. Here there was a small tree that we could use to climb up into a stone archway where we could see a wooden walkway on the other side.

After ivy on the nearby valley wall to reach the walkway, we proceeded on our way back to the other end of the valley to find the exit. We had to pass through another decrepit building in order to arrive at the bridge but in this building was something of interest to all of us. It was a nest. There was a medi-pack in this nest and beside that was an egg.

"Is it still alive?" Tiara asked, bent in front of the egg. She then carefully laid a hand on its smooth surface to check for any heat. None of us expected a paw to kick its way out of the shell or a bird head to come next and latch on to Tiara's finger. She screamed and reeled back into Yusuke's arms.

"What is that?" my detective friend asked.

The creature that had just emerged from the egg strongly resembled a gryphon—bird head and lion body—but the wings were not feathered. Rather, they were more bat-like only without the usual covering of wings. They were a dark red and resembled body tissue.

The thing's newborn sight absorbed Tiara's appearance and then it bowed its head. "Ah, there you are. My apologies for frightening you, my mistress," it said in a smooth, mature-sounding male voice.

"Uh….it's OK," Tiara replied uncertainly. "Um, who are you?"

"I am a Brionian," he answered. "Half bird, half lion with Atlantean heritage."

"The hell?" I muttered. No such thing had even been mentioned in any of the Tomb Raider games.

"But who are you? What is your name?" Tiara clarified.

"That is for you to decide, mistress."

"So, are you trying to tell us that you belong to Tiara?" Dusty asked.

"Of course, young maiden; she has given me life."

"Life?" Kuwabara repeated.

"Her warmth," the Brionian explained.

"You must be really sensitive to temperature changes," I said.

"Only in the egg," it said and shook out its wings so it could fly to Tiara's shoulder. "Once hatched, I am connected to the mistress and her feelings."

Yusuke looked to his charge. "What do you think, T? You want to keep this flying wreck or what?"

Tiara, upon noticing the Brionian's sad expression, whacked his shoulder. "Be nice, Yusuke. I'll keep him; after all, I'm his mom now!"

_Ah, the strange mood swings of the ever energetic Tiara. _

"What should I name you?" she thought as she stroked the feathered head. "How about….Caesar?"

"Oh jeez, Tiara, that's no name for a whatever-he-is from Peru," Dusty scoffed. "What is he again?"

"He's a Brionian," Tiara said, sounding offended. "And Caesar can be a Hispanic name, can't it, Katie?"

"Well, yeah, but in Spanish it's spelled C-E-S-A-R and it's pronounced Say-Sar. If you're going to give him a Peruvian name then you're going to have to pronounce it right."

That shut that idea down. Tiara shrugged to her new pet. "How about I name you later?"

He tilted his head. "If that is what mistress wishes."

"Good idea so let's get this show on the road," I suggested and exited out the other side of the building to the bridge. "I'm thinking we can all jump this far."

I was right and we were soon on the other side where we had to use the stone wall of another broken down building to climb upwards where I could see a dark hole. It was above the slope that we had entered on so I knew it was our ticket out of here.

Standing atop a narrow portion of the wall, I could see three poles that would be the route up to the hole. In front of me was a support pillar that had fallen over and had some water dribbling down its surface from water inside the valley wall. I grinned and showed my team where to go before I jumped onto the slick pillar and slid down to another pillar that was high enough to reach the poles.

The same trip was not so enjoyable for some of my friends but we were all excited when we could leave the not-so-great mini paradise, even if it meant going back into the halls of the tomb.

The long hall inside took us back to the room where I had gotten attacked by the bats and we made our way back to the first pit where we slowed down to make accurate jumps across the ramps. After that we returned to the room where we had found the unusual .50 caliber bullets, only this time, we came out on the steep ramp that we couldn't use when we first went through there.

It was refreshing to hear the sound of the largest waterfall because that meant that we would be able to leave this place soon. Rather than taking the time to climb down, though, we just ran off of the rock ledge and dove into the pool below.

"I elect Hiei to go put in the last cog," I said, tiredly flopping on the ground. We still had to climb back up above the falls to look for the shotgun.

It took a matter of minutes for Hiei to climb all the way back up to the topmost level of the cog puzzle and put in the last piece. I watched the stone river block with the Incan face slowly lower into the water and cut off the rush to reveal the exit. Hiei returned by way of the pool and then we—Hiei, Kurama, and me—ascended above the falls in search of a new weapon.

Hiei checked the area where Kurama said he saw the current change for a moment but he didn't come back with a shotgun. Instead, he held a golden mug thing.

"This is a Kero Mug," Kurama informed us, "The Incan face shows that. Kero Mugs were often used in Andrean feasts."

I grinned. "Kurama, you're Youko side is showing." He jokingly checked his hair color as if to see how far the changes had gotten.

We continued back to the place where Tiara had fallen into the river the first time and I made the climb back up to the bridge that I accidentally shot down during my encounter with the bats. I searched the walls but I couldn't find any secretive place for a gun to be hidden. In a last effort, I jumped out above the water and threw my grapple up to the hook that had held the bridge.

From the middle of the room, I gave the walls another scrupulous examination and it wasn't until I turned to swing back that I noticed the small, round hole by the half of the bridge. It was difficult to make the swing into there but it was well worth the effort as I did find the treasure I had been looking for.

We swam back to the river block and used swan dives on the other side for the quick way down to our troop of inexperienced tomb raiders. I could safely say that we were all more than ready to be out of this level and on to the next. I, myself, was ready to find another awesome treasure: The Scion of Atlantis.

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A/N: I know that I haven't been updating on a specific time each week, but Christmas break will be coming after my finals next week and then I'll be updating a lot more....assuming that somebody wants me to. (Hint, hint) Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Please Review!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Tomb Raider.

* * *

**Chapter Nine—Legends Never Die**

"So, did you find what you were looking for and what was it?" Yusuke asked me as we followed the winding path under the waterfall to our next destination.

"Yep, and it was firepower." I held out the shotgun and clearly saw his chocolate eyes widen with excitement. I grinned slyly and held it up. "Who wants it?"

"Me! I do!" said the detective, jumping in front of me and wildly waving his arm.

"Actually that was a trick question because I already decided I'm keeping it."

"Aw, come _on_!" Yusuke whined. "You already have guns and I have to protect someone!"

"Yeah, but with how trigger happy you look right now, I don't think I can trust you with a real gun. Chill out, Urameshi, you'll get something, too….eventually."

The path that we were following was broken in front of us and we had to use a spire to a pole and from there swing to another spire. A final spire allowed us to get onto a ledge opposite the path into what I had a feeling was the centerpiece of the level. And I didn't have that feeling because it looked familiar; I had it because of the extravagant design on the floor of a red, white, and tan Incan face.

Well, really, the design wasn't on the entire floor because the floor was gone except for a small bridge in the middle of the room from one doorway to another. There were also a doorway on the right and left sides but it was much too far to jump.

With only one option, we crossed the bridge and entered the tunnel on the other side.

"It's dark in here," commented Tiara's Brionian.

_No duh._ It was really dark and foggy so we didn't know until the ground started to shake that we had made a mistake.

I grabbed Tiara's arm since she was closest to me—the Brionian almost falling off as I spun her around—and yelled, "Run!" at the rest of our group as we ran to escape the giant boulder that was rolling after us. The team hadn't entered as far as we had (just about a step into the doorway) and hastily parted outside the doorway so that Tiara and I could get out of the way.

I shielded my head with my arms when the boulder bounced down several small steps in its tunnel, sending dust up. We also heard metal meeting rock as the boulder knocked something down and then crashed into the bridge, breaking itself and the end apart.

"Well, that sucked," Kuwabara voiced after all was calm again.

"Yeah, but at least we know where the Scion is being kept," I pointed out, gesturing to the gates that the boulder had knocked down. They looked familiar since they were in the last game, one each with its own insignia pertaining to its switch: a bird head, an eye, and a whole bird.

"Ah, if we are after the Scion in this level, then this must be the Tomb of Qualopec," Kurama surmised.

"That's exactly where we are," I confirmed, looking at the wooden support from the bridge that the boulder had revealed. "Do you think if we pulled that over by one of the doors, we reach it if we jump from the bridge?"

"I believe that could work. The question now is: Right or left?"

"Left. Yusuke, come help me move this."

I was able to safely drop to the ground from the support since it was lower than the bridge itself. Yusuke followed me and we worked together to tug the heavy thing over to the door. When Kurama told us to stop, we used a fallen piece of the bridge and the wall to climb back up to our team. Then we made our way across the support and into the left room.

The hall contained a three-arrow trap and a guarantee that things would be getting harder from here. When the floor ended and presented us with a puzzle where we had to use cracks to climb along the walls and dodge arrow traps at the same time, I knew I was right. There were three traps and each one had three arrows with various patterns.

Once we made it to the other end of the room and used a spire, though, we were safely back on the trail. Shortly down the hall, there were three Incan statues also spitting out three-arrow traps, but the middle one wasn't on. Not far from that spot, we encountered many more arrow traps—three on either end of the hall and four in the middle—but some of these were also not on. Malfunctioning isn't surprising in an old tomb but this gave me the idea that things would be worse when we came back through.

The room after the traps had totally collapsed in on itself, the only things still standing being a short section of stairs in the middle of the room before a switch but since they didn't connect with the wall the switch was on, the direct route to pull it was out of the question.

However, there were wooden columns on either side of the stairs and the one on the left had a pole near it. I used that to reach a ledge on the wall and climb up to a rickety wooden walkway above the steps. From there it was easy to jump to the switch and pull it down. Once I landed, I could feel the floor rumbling as the gate ground its way back up into the ceiling.

"Lass, all th' traps 'r' active now," Tayg told me.

"If we split up in groups of three, wouldn't we all be able to safely fit down the hall?" Christy wondered.

Kurama smiled at his charge. "A wise suggestion."

I nodded. "Let's do it. Split up, guys."

Hiei and Kurama came with me since he thought he could trust Yusuke with both Christy and Tiara (and Tiara had her Brionian). Dusty went with Tayg and Kuwabara and we all proceeded safely down the hall.

Next we came to the three Incan statues with the arrow traps imbedded into them, all of which were now activated. That seemed like a small matter until you took note of the massive pendulum blades swinging in between each statue. It wasn't a big deal once we found out that there was just enough space for a person to wait between after the arrow and before the pendulum. Then a raptor tried to make us its dinner but failed.

The last step was to retrace our steps through the room with lots of arrow traps and wall cracks and then we were back in the main room. When I jumped back to the support, though, I saw something interesting suspended above the floor. There was a gong with a face molded into its surface that matched the creepy one on the floor. It was only hung by ropes so maybe we could knock another support loose.

To the left of the support, there were a couple ledges that gave me access to a pole that went up to the top of the door where the gates were. It was hard to aim for some slim ropes that were ten to fifteen feet away so I just blasted into space for a while until the stray bullets thinned them enough that they snapped.

Just as I thought, the remains of the bridge crumbled away and left behind another support with a platform that we could use to get to the door on the right side. Before we went over there, though, there was a switch across the way that was hidden by the gong. Two hooks in the ceiling took me over to that switch and raised the second gate. Now all that was left was the middle gate.

Kuwabara and Yusuke were already down moving the support by the time I made it back to the floor with the Incan face. The rest of our troop met me there and then we went on to the last switch.

After another not-quite-so-difficult using walls to dodge arrow traps and reach columns puzzle, we got to another hall that took us to the last switch room.

This room had red walls and red lining on the floor. There were steps leading up to the switch like in the last room but this time, the room was in perfect condition. I had a bad feeling so I stayed put but Dusty and Tiara started for it at the same time.

"I don't like this," Tiara's Brionian mentioned even though the rest of us already felt it.

About that time was when the floor fell out from underneath the sisters and two wolves were waiting in the hole below to devour them. The two girls shrieked as they slid down a slant in the wall and hit the ground.

Dusty was shocked for a moment and then bolted to her feet stabbing her claws into the lungs of a wolf that bounded toward her.

Tiara, on the other hand, could only climb to her feet before a wolf pounced on her and sent her Brionian sprawling. Dusty had turned from her kill at that time and was about to lunge toward another but the Brionian beat her to it. The beak of the small alien dug into the back of the neck and tore through the spinal cord of the dog, effectively saving his master.

"Are you alright, mistress?" he asked as Dusty pulled the wolf corpse from her sister.

"Yeah….yeah, I'm okay," she answered, shakily climbing to her feet. I could tell from her tone that she was seeing the bloody vision of our late tour guide.

"Can ya climb out, Dusty?" Tayg called anxiously. He couldn't fly her out since we just came from a level with a lot of water.

"I think so. There are some columns and poles, but I can't reach them. Let me take a look around."

I could see the beginnings of a ramp and this was where Dusty walked. We all waited patiently until we heard something being drug across the wood and then fell to the ground with a metallic _clang!_ When Dusty began pulling it again, there was a horrible screeching sound that echoed around the area and had us all covering out ears.

It quieted down and then Dusty commanded, "Tiara, come help me carry this dead guy over by this pillar."

Tiara's face contorted in disgust but she compliantly went under the ground we were standing on and helped Dusty lift the cage to whatever pillar she was referring to. We didn't know what was happening except that Dusty kept grunting occasionally and gasped once when her boot slipped. Then she appeared, performing a mid-air spin jump to reach a metal pole that made me proud.

She next used some ledges to the left of the switch to grab on to it and pull it down. We all felt the ground shudder as the last gate slid up. She then turned back to talk to her sister who hadn't been following.

"Do you think if you bring that cage over here, you can crawl up this slope enough to reach my hand?"

"I think I can," Tiara said from underneath us and then we covered our ears as she half carried, half dragged the cage over to the slope. She then crawled on her hands and knees part of the way up so that she could grab Dusty's hand and then slip and slide up the rest of the mossy surface. Then she took hold of the other side of the switch while Dusty jumped to a nearby pole.

Once Dusty had grabbed onto some lining left over from the floor, Tiara also jumped to the pole and did the same. After some use of ledges, they both returned to stable ground and we eagerly greeted them.

"I have a name for your alien now, Tiara," I said when she jumped down.

"What?"

"How about Lalo?" I suggested. "It means 'rich guardian.'"

Yusuke frowned at the idea of someone else having his title of Guardian but Tiara liked the idea and rubbed the feathery head of her Brionian.

"What do you think? Do you like Lalo?" she asked it.

"If mistress is happy then I am happy. I shall be Lalo," the Brionian complied.

As we backtracked down the hall, a raptor ran out to attack us and we disposed of him. How he got up here from the dart trap/pit room, I'll never know. But after he was no longer a threat, we reversed our trip through the dart trap room and made our way back to the main room where we hopped back to the floor centerpiece and also hopped the gap the boulder created to the hall the gates had been blocking. After a short detour around a large support pillar inside, we entered the throne room.

The throne room had red lining the floors but other than and the red and gold mural behind the throne, the room was a bland grey color. The Scion was centered on a pedestal in the middle of the room, in plain sight of its keeper seated on the throne: Qualopec. On either side of the ruler's throne was a semi-mummified guard who looked humanoid only they didn't appear to have necks and there fingers and toes were webbed. Their eyes were open—a grotesque yellow color—but they weren't awake. They also had very long canines like a saber-toothed tiger.

The Scion glowed a lively red-orange as we approached, but I found Qualopec to be more interesting at the moment. He looked like he was made from black metal but he was still a human. His robe also did not look flowing and his gauntlets looked stiff. His armor was covered with dust but not rusted and a green jewel on his chest plate shined dully. The lopsided crown on his head was also dirty but not any less regal. I walked up the steps to be level with him and attempted to read the mural behind him.

"Kurama, can you read this?"

The fox stepped closer but didn't climb the stairs like I dared, instead standing respectfully at the base of the first.

"They appear to be somewhat like hieroglyphics, but they have a strange dialect, if that makes sense considering they are a picture language."

"But can you read it?" I repeated.

"Youko has a vague knowledge of hieroglyphics so I will attempt to do so. It says…._Here sits the God-King Qualopec, one of the….Triumvirate? Keepers of the three pieces of the Scion; Definers of Its Knowledge; Sacred rulers of….Atlantis._"

"Three rulers of Atlantis," I pondered and leaned in to get a good look at Qualopec's face.

Then my fox ears picked up movement from my right and I whipped my head in time to see the jaws of the mummy guard open in a roar. It took a swipe at my head but I was pulled roughly back down the stairs by my Guardian just in time.

Once out of the way, I drew my guns, but there was no need. The guard lay facedown on the floor just as lifeless as it had looked when we first entered. Just to be sure, I pointed my guns at it for a moment and then to Qualopec in case he suddenly felt the need to awaken, too. Again, I pointed at the guard nervously and then Qualopec but nothing happened which was just too strange for me.

"Get the Scion and let's go," I hissed to my frightened team behind me. No one moved so I turned. "What? Are you scared of it now?" Still no one moved so I grabbed the artifact….

And, of course, the room began to cave in so we hightailed it out of there.

But for some reason, I had a feeling that I should turn back when I reached the hall so I did for just a second….

But that was all it took for me to see Qualopec's throne rise up from its resting place on a set of spider legs—the ruler looking as alive as the day of his ruling, his hands clenching the throne's armrests. Then several large rocks fell from the ceiling and blocked the doorway.

My mouth was slightly agape and I turned to Hiei who had stood beside me, my heart thumping so hard that I breathlessly pleaded, "Tell me you didn't see that."

"Do I have to?" he retorted.

Our identical expression had me spitting out, "Oh my God," and running down the hall after my group of tomb raiders. They had already made it to the main room and Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama were testing the floor with the Incan face to make sure weight would not tip it.

I rushed past the rest and leapt onto the floor calling, "No time for caution, guys, we gotta _move_!"

"What?" was the only response I got and Tiara hopped the gap to grab my arm.

"Katie, what are you talking about? What's wrong?"

I gestured for the rest of the group to join us and gave the rushed explanation of, "Oh, nothing, Qualopec just woke up. His throne rose up on spider legs and he's coming to kill us because we stole his treasure. I did not make this up. Hiei saw it, too."

They all looked to my short Guardian and he snapped, "The door is blocked but if you stand here staring at me, he'll be able to dig himself out."

That was enough for them and we ran back to the hall where we had encountered the first arrow trap.

"Oh, we don't have time for all this arrow dodging crap," I growled and looked down into the shallow pit where a raptor was waiting. I jumped down with him and pumped him full of shotgun shells so that we could pass.

At the other end, we all scrambled up the steadily crumbling wall and sprinted down the hall back to The Lost Valley where the gear puzzle was located, rocks sending up spray around us. But, wouldn't you know it? Our bad guys weren't gone yet. As I swam toward the surface, I could make out the outline of the military man, Larsen.

"I'd _love_ to join ya," he drawled as we surfaced. "But I forgot my trunks."

I sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" I asked as I climbed from the water and signaled for my team to stay treading water for a minute.

He shrugged. "You've got your job, I've got mine." He held out his hand expectantly. "I'll take it from here."

I frowned at his hand and glared at him. "I hope Natla sent you with more than that shotgun."

He grinned. "Don't sweat it, kitten. I prefer a more _hands-on_ approach."

That's when he swung a few punches at me and I dodged them and then jumped over him as he made a dive to trip me. While he was on the ground, he grabbed a handful of dirt and tried to throw it in my eyes when he stood. I ran toward him and slid under the majority of the cloud so that I could plant a kick in his chest and throw in a couple punches of my own.

He backed away and drew his shotgun, but he hadn't backed away enough so I still had room to run in and shove it aside, at the same time, landing a punch square in his jaw that knocked him to the ground and tossed the gun from his hand.

I straddled him with my knees on his arms so he couldn't hit me and dangled the Scion in his face.

"This is only _one_ piece of the Scion. Where's the rest of it?" I demanded in a deadly harsh tone. My team climbed from the water and surrounded us to also provide support.

Larsen wasn't intimidated and cast a quick look at the pistols on my hips. "Give me a minute, I'm thinkin'." He made a grab for them but I drew one and pointed it to his temple. He just maintained his cowboy grin....

Until I mashes the barrel into this cheek and then he caved. "Whoa! Makes no difference to me. Pierre's probably already found his piece."

"Pierre Dupont?" I clarified. "Where?"

"Now that I don't know."

I stared down into his anxious eyes for a minute to be sure he wasn't lying but my keen senses couldn't pick up on any deception so I climbed off of him. "Alright, I'm convinced."

"Damn, you really had me goin' there," he laughed as I walked away.

I picked up on the smell of malice and remembered the shotgun. I hadn't walked too far away and so when he pumped the shotgun, I twisted and kicked his head into the ground. Taking the gun from his grasp, I thrust it into Yusuke's hands. He grinned like a little kid in a candy store.

* * *

I lit the blowtorch and started to melt through the elevator cable. My sunglasses were on to keep the light from blinding me.

I was currently standing on the outside of the elevator of Natla's office building and once it dropped, it would give Hiei and I a quick ride to the roof where we could break in without the security alarms going off. Our merry band of tomb raiders were on the roof of another building across the street, watching us with binoculars until we could unlock the door to get in.

The cable gave a little and the elevator sunk. A moment later, the rest of the cable snapped and we flew through the air, the torch going out and Hiei releasing his cloak that had been protecting his eyes so he could watch for my signal.

As we approached the top of the building, I looked to my Guardian and nodded, telling him to let go. We both did and the momentum we had gained carried us up to the roof where a neon sign read "Natla Technologies." I shot through the glass skylight and quickly found the security panel that would open the doors on ground level. Then I leaned back on Natla's abandoned desk while we waited for the rest of our friends to arrive.

When they had, I took possession of Natla's TV remote and turned on the very big screen TV. Just as I thought, it was connected to her computer and was what she had used when she had talked to us about the job. There were two names: Larsen and Pierre. I clicked on Larsen first.

_The message began with the screen watching us walk up the hall toward Qualopec's throne room. Larsen's voice came from behind the screen, "Looks like our girl's pulled it off."_

"_Of course she has," Natla's voice came from the screen. "Now it's up to you." _

_The scene wheeled around to Larsen's face as he spoke to the screen," Not that I'm complainin', boss, but, what makes you so sure she's not gonna bring it back herself?"_

_Natla responded, "Lara would never part with the Scion. She's far to obsessed with it. Just like her father."_

I stopped the video and frowned. Was Lara really that obsessed with the Scion? I knew I wasn't.

_This message began with Natla speaking to a bald Frenchman with a mustache and bird combo clothed in a turtleneck and green jacket ensemble. "Ah, Monsieur Dupont," Natla acknowledged in a perfect French accent. "You have something to report?"_

_Pierre nodded. "Good news, madam. Your information was correct. I have located my piece of the Scion." _

_The screen turned and zoomed in on what Pierre had been standing in front of—a rather modest monastery located on a very high cliff. _

"_Voila! It is buried under a place called—"_

I paused the video and stepped closer to the big screen TV, recognizing the place immediately. After all, it also was one of my favorite levels.

"Saint Francis Folly," I vocalized.

"Where is that?" Yusuke asked.

"Greece," I replied and turned to exit the office.

"I've always wanted to go to Greece," Kurama spoke eagerly.

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**A/N:** Hmm....Well, since this had some important plot points, I would like to get at least one review before I update again. Just tell me if you liked it or if something confused you. I hate forcing people to do things, but I really think there's some good stuff in this story that you could comment on. We'll see how this goes.

Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:**I have returned! And I am very pleased that I finally got a review last chapter. Thank you very much,** jasmine**, and if you're reading this again, this chapter is dedicated to you!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Tomb Raider.

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**Chapter Ten—The Darkness of a Tomb**

_I've acquired new evidence that leads me to believe it is the Scion, itself that is, in some strange way, a vast library of information to rival even Alexandria. I am now convinced that, if I can obtain it, I will finally discover what happened to my beloved Amelia. _

We read the next journal entry on the flight here and we were now climbing up a steep cliff to the monastery that we had seen Pierre standing in front of—the entrance to Saint Francis Folly. Right in front of the large doors were the remains of a campfire along with a cooking pot and three empty cans. I picked up one with a picture of refried beans on it and tsked.

"Pierre, you litter bug."

Meanwhile, Yusuke and Kuwabara hauled open the massive doors. I only stared once the inside could be seen clearly; it looked rather cheery inside because the domed roof had fallen in on itself and let the sunlight shine down on the colossal, white, stone pillars typical to Grecian architecture. Still, I was hesitant because of a sneaking suspicion that things were about to take a turn for the worst. I had been experiencing this anxiety since The Lost Valley when the T-Rex battle had been harder than it should have been and the encounter with Qualopec in the last tomb had heightened my senses to code red. All of my group could testify that I had been unusually quiet, even for me.

However, the unease didn't stop us from going in; after all, we couldn't get home unless we did. Just like when we had entered the tomb in the mountain cave, once we were all inside, the huge doors slammed shut, putting an end to any thoughts of turning back.

We hadn't progressed very far into the large room when two lions raced toward us, looking for an easy meal. I showed them that we would not be that meal, nor would they be eating any others.

Not a second later, an arrogant Frenchman's voice echoed throughout the room, "I suppose you're more of a dog person."

"Natla doesn't honor her contracts Pierre," I spoke from experience. "I'd move on if I were you." I began sneaking around the pillars in search of the crazy bald guy before he snuck up on me.

"No, mademoiselle, Natla and I understand each other. I find things for her and she rewards me handsomely. But you seek the very thing she does. That is why you are not trusted."

"I trust my instincts." But at the moment, they weren't doing anything for me. I had the feeling he was behind me somewhere (What bad guy isn't?), but I couldn't get a bead on him with this place's crappy acoustics.

"And that is why you are in second place. I am a professional, mademoiselle. I focus on the job and I get paid."

"There's more to life than money, Pierre."

"This isn't life, mademoiselle, it's business. Your compulsion prevents you from seeing the difference."

I slid around the side of another shadowy pillar and then backed into the middle of the room where my group—who had stayed put—would be able to watch my back.

"It hasn't prevented me from getting a piece of the Scion. How's business for you?"

I heard two clicks as he un-cocked his guns and I finally pinpointed the loser. "Touché. So then, why don't we see whose compulsion gets them the next piece?"

I listened for a few moments afterwards in hopes of hearing where he was going, but (What do you know?) not only was he good at finding things for crooks, he was also good at stealth.

"He was behind you the whole time," Kurama kindly informed me.

"I know, I had a hunch. Besides, if I didn't see him first, Hiei would have so I was safe."

Now that our lives weren't in immediate danger, I took a moment to figure out the puzzle of this room because, as far as I was concerned, there was no way out unless we could climb walls and go through the open roof. We couldn't, of course, so it looked like our only other option was the gate on the opposite end of the room which, confusingly, had a gate on a ledge above it.

Since the roof had caved in, it had broken off the tops of the gigantic pillars and cut chips in the sides that would be great for climbing. Up above where we had come in was an alcove but what was in it, I couldn't see clearly from this height. Two balconies on either side of the room would be a great help for us to get up there.

As I walked to the other end of the room, all the while looking for a chip in the stone low enough for us to climb, I stepped onto a circular pressure pad that opened the smaller gate above the large gate on the opposite end of the room. But as soon as I stepped off, the small gate slammed shut again so we would have to find something to leave on it.

The best chip for climbing turned out to be on the last pillar on the right side and, after gaining some height with the aid of a couple more gashes in its side, we could use a flip-jump to get to the pillar on the left side. This one was much taller but after some climbing we could reach the top and jump from there to another pillar and a balcony, working our way backwards to the gate above the entrance door.

From the balcony, I could make out the image of a golden ball on a pedestal in the alcove that would be perfect for the pressure pad down below. We hopped down to a lower balcony which had a convenient hook by it that would make for an easy wall run to the other side. I performed that task and then helped the rest of my team over.

Unfortunately, as we had learned throughout the beginning of this escapade, things are never easy and the alcove with the golden ball was blocked off by a gate. Interestingly on the wall opposite the gate, there was an image composed of glowing dots that released a sparkly smoke. All the dots came together to depict a hero with a sword, holding the head of a beast.

"It looks like a constellation," Tiara commented.

"I would guess that that is what it is intended to be," Kurama agreed. "The Greeks had an affinity for heavenly bodies. I believe that this is a portrayal of—"

"Perseus after he beheaded Medusa," I interrupted and then because of his shocked expression announced, "I read up on my Greek Mythology. This is definitely a piece to the puzzle."

I indicated a pressure pad in front of the picture and Dusty took the liberty of stepping on it. Instantly, all the bright lights shut off, leaving much less brilliant circles where they used to be. She tried stepping on the pressure pad again but the lights didn't turn back on.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to break it," she apologized.

"No, no, this is another piece to the puzzle," Kurama said and then I followed him in pacing the room.

We didn't even make half a lap before we recognized the same image on a wall down a dead ended hallway just like the one we had entered through. There were only two dots on this one, one being on Perseus's blade and the other being on Medusa's eye, and neither was glowing because they were jewels instead of the circles on the other constellation.

"There is no smoke coming from these," Kurama said, gently running the pads of his fingers over the jewels. I wondered if his Youko side was yearning to steal them. "Perhaps it is trapped inside."

"Trapped," I muttered, and then our eyes met as the puzzle was solved. "Dusty trapped the stars."

"They must be freed," he added and we went back to the other constellation.

"Stand back," I called and shot out the blocks on the points that corresponded with the other image.

Smoke was again beginning to wisp from these two points and the sound of rock grinding on rock told us that the wall with the other image had moved. The opening it created revealed a hook to carry us over to two more balconies and I left the rest of the group behind to see what the point of this was. In the second balcony was another copy of the Perseus/Medusa picture with glows coming from Perseus's hand, the small of his back, and one on each foot.

I hurried back to the first constellation and reset it with the pressure pad before shooting out the matching blocks and releasing the stars. Finally, our objective for climbing up here was reach as the gate cutting us off from the golden sphere was raised up.

"I'm guessin' we should pull it off o' there, aye?" Tayg asked me and he and Kuwabara attempted to push it off of the pedestal.

The metal creaked from being strained but it didn't roll off. It was Christy who spied the problem.

"Wait, guys, there's a metal rod inside that's holding it on there."

"How do we get it off?" Kuwabara asked, clearly disappointed that he didn't get to show off his muscles.

"Hn, there's a handle on either side," Hiei said, just loud enough that I heard him. Sure enough, there was a handle on either side of the sphere and they looked like they came off.

"Tayg, tug on that handle and see if that panel comes out."

He did and it popped off without problem. Kuwabara got the other one and the rod inside slid out onto the floor, releasing the golden orb to fall off the pedestal. The two boys guided it over to the edge of the alcove and then pushed it off. There was a solid, metallic _clank!_ when the ball met the ground but it otherwise remained in tact. We got down to the ground and then Tayg and Kuwabara also rolled it over to the pressure pad.

The gate up above the exit slid upward, giving us access to the next room and we used the same pillars from before to reach it. The next room also had a gate that had to be opened in order for us to proceed. The staircase down to the floor from where we were had a section missing and so I sent Yusuke down first to see if it was safe to jump across.

He made it without fault and called up, "There's another pressure pad for that ball down here….and there's a switch to open the gate to the last room so we can roll it in here."

"Go ahead and pull it," I called back.

He did and then walked into the last room to get the sphere while the rest of us hung out. A second later we heard lion roars and Yusuke came running back to the stairs before stopping and laughing. "What am I running for?"

He whipped out his brand new shotgun and blasted those cats to kingdom come and then resumed his mission, soon returning with the orb and pushing it onto the pressure pad. The large gate slid up and the rest of us leapt over the gap in the stairs so we could follow it.

The dark hall wound downward and it steadily got colder as we got deeper underground until the tunnel opened up into a very tall room. This room was centered around a tower in the middle which I knew had five levels to it, two of which were currently in ruins. The rest of the walls and paths had definitely seen better days but they weren't as demolished as some parts of the tower. Apparently when the roof of the monastery above fell in, so did some rocks from the ceiling in here.

From where we were standing, we were within jumping distance of the topmost level and once there, we noticed there were a switch on either side of us, both of which were too far away to jump to on our own. However, from the far end of this level, we could see two shelves that would aid me in my trip over there. Each shelf had a hook on it and since only one shelf was out at the moment, I latched onto the other one with my grapple and pulled it out, too. I jumped onto this one first and then used the other one, working my way left until I reached a pole that would swing me over to the switch.

After that switch was thrown, the torches on either side of it lit up and a shelf slid out of the wall beneath where I stood, making for a quicker route back to the tower. I jumped back and then turned in time to shoot down a bat while Hiei decapitated a second one. Catching the corpse of the one he took down, I turned back to instruct my group of would-be tomb raiders.

"This level will help you all build your jumping skills but be careful. In some levels you can survive most falls but here, one false step will give you a one-way ticket to the bottom." I dropped the bat carcass over the edge and our sensitive ears pricked up, waiting for the impact. Several second later, we heard a faint splash as the corpse hit a puddle on the ground floor. "Keep that in mind, we're going to make our way down there as soon as we get that other switch. Who wants to go this time?"

"I will," Hiei volunteered and then gave the switch a questioning glance, knowing that he couldn't jump that far now.

I studied the paths around the room and realized that there was rock lining where there used to be ledges leading up to the switch. Now to reach them.

_Ah, there it is._ A shimmer of gold had seized my attention and I found a hook on top of a loose-looking column set into the wall a level below us. My team followed me down and then I latched onto the hook, enlisting the aid of Tayg to pull in down.

The column was just long enough to reach the level below us and would serve as a good makeshift bridge to some ledges that would take Hiei close enough to reach the rock lining. However, there was also a medi-pack over there and I wanted it.

I climbed down another level and then stepped up onto the bridge and took a couple steps toward the supplies….

_Crack!_ The column sank down a couple inches as the end fell apart a bit and then it didn't move anymore.

I had gasped when it happened (an odd characteristic of mine—I don't scream when dangerous things happen to me) and stumbled to my knees, but now that I wasn't falling, I slowly stood back up and took careful steps to reach the prize I had wanted. Hiei came after I was across and I gestured to the ledges that would carry him to the left side of the room.

"There's your route. I'll meet you back over on the tower."

By the time I had inched my way across the precarious column, Hiei had stepped up to the switch and pulled it. A gate ground up somewhere nearby and when I looked behind us, I met the sight of a door across the way with a name I had never seen before.

"Hephaestus," I read. "They weren't in the old version. Who are they?"

Hiei joined us and we began exploring for a way to reach the doorway.

"Hephaestus was the god of technology—blacksmiths, metals, sculptors…." Kurama answered, happy to know that I had not learned of this and he could still provide information. "He was worshipped by industrial centers. The legends say that he was the son of Hera and sought after Athena. So much so, in fact, that he tried to rape her….although, he was unsuccessful."

"Athena? Zeus's daughter? The Goddess of War?" Tiara gaped.

"What kind of idiot was he?" Yusuke inputted.

Kurama shrugged. "The rest of the story is rather unpleasant but it is how the Greeks believed King Erichthonius of Athens was born."

A puzzled tilt of my head prodded him to reiterate, "He tried to rape Athena, Kat," with a suggestive look.

It came to me, and I wished it hadn't. Clutching my head to rid it of naughty images I cried, "Okay! I'm not going to ask _any_more."

Lalo cocked his head at my antics. "I don't get it."

Tiara patted him on the head. "I don't think we want to understand."

"Is that a target?" Dusty asked, pointing up to the level we had just climbed down from.

"Well frick," I said, meaning that she was right and we all clambered back up to the second level.

I shot at the target and a shelf below it slid out of the wall a bit. I shot at it a few more times and then it was out completely so we could use it along with some ledges and a pole to reach the Hephaestus room. We had to be careful as we were going along the wall to get inside since the ground below was sloped and Kurama, as graceful as he is, almost slipped to his doom.

The hallway inside took us to a gate with spears on the inside and another gate on the other side. A switch was on the wall which raised the gate and opened the spears. Yusuke entered the area between the spears to see if he could lift the gate on the other side which hadn't opened. When I heard a familiar _thunk….thunk…._ of a timer, I knew that was a mistake.

Hiei knew it was, too, since he had been with me the last time we had heard that noise. At the same time as I yelled "Yusuke!", Hiei grabbed his shirt and all but threw the detective out of the way of the spears as they came snapping back together and the gate slammed back down.

Tiara stared at the trap even after the rest of us knelt to check on her Guardian. I could only guess that she was imagining what would have happened if Yusuke had stayed in there. Then she sank to her knees and hugged her Guardian tightly while he just sat there, looking kind of stunned.

"Why don't we just climb the gate?" Kuwabara asked, acting along with his suggestion. He didn't get very far before the metal squealed underneath him and the whole gate fell off, sending the rest of us scattering so we weren't crushed.

"Well, that was a brilliant idea," scoffed Dusty. "Here's another: Why don't we just climb those cracks in the wall and go through the hole above the gate?"

I looked up where she was directing our attention and noticed that there was indeed a hole up there. _How does she find that stuff and I don't?_

"Hn, but that would be too easy," Hiei said.

"If you want a challenge," Dusty retaliated, going to climb the wall. "Then you should go fight in another tournament, not against a _gate_."

Hiei growled and I placed a hand on his shoulder chiding, "Chill, Eneco. You have to be the mature one here, you're older than her."

He raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but simply Hn-ed again and pursued the rest of us in scaling the wall. After we dropped to the floor on the other side, we traveled along another short hall to a room with what looked like a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. Though, it was the only disco ball I had ever seen that could shoot lightning out of its facets and each time it did, it raised some of the floor tiles.

"Hephaestus replaced Thor," I mumbled to myself. Thor was the God of Thunder in the Germanic culture who carried around a large war hammer. In the old game, the disco ball had been the sign of entering Thor's room, but now Hephaestus had replaced that god and overtaken his electrified disco ball.

"There's a big, long gate on the other side," Christy informed us. "How are we going to open it?"

"Four of those tiles are up all the time, no matter what," Tiara said.

"Pressure pads?" suggested Tayg.

"It's worth a try," I agreed. "There's a gap over between the gate and the electrified tiles. Hiei and I will get the ones on the right side and the rest of you guys can head over to that gap and get the two on the left."

Kurama was in front of the group with Christy so he stomped on the first tile and it actually did sink into the floor like Tayg thought it would. Hiei and I waited until they were all over to the gap; Dusty, being the last one, stomped on the other tile but her timing was off and the disco ball shot out a beam of lightning that snagged her ankle. Tayg pulled her out of the way and supported her so she could rest her foot. Catching Dusty, though, had changed the pattern of the disco ball's beams, although we didn't realize it at the time.

I took the first tile and Hiei ran to get the farthest one. After I hit mine, I ran over to the gap as the tiles changed but because Hiei had started after me, he didn't have time to move after he stepped on his and opened the gate. The electricity shot out and caught him, paralyzing him in mid-step as the current spiraled up and down his body.

My Guardian growled, trying to suppress his cry of pain, but as the flow grew stronger, he let out what I thought was as close to a yell as I would ever hear from him. I would later discover just how wrong I was.

But at the moment, that noise was enough that I couldn't resist reaching in to pull him out. Not a good idea—I was also drawn into the flow. Currents traveled up the metal rods in my spine, my ears dropped back in pain, and my tail bristled. I could hear my team behind us yelling things to each other but what they were saying didn't make sense to me; I had to get us out of here before we were both killed.

"Distract…." Hiei ground out but it gave me an idea.

Somehow, I managed to pull my gun out of its holster—being on the edge of the current, I had more range of movement. I pointed at the ball and the others shrank back into the adjoining room before I released the shot.

The result of the bullet connecting with electricity was an explosion that blew my Guardian and I out of this room and into the next. The ball sparked and began flinging currents wildly.

_Oh my God, my back!_ I screamed in my mind. I was on my stomach, my head pounding, my back hot and aching, and there was this horrible screeching sound in my head…. _Wait, that isn't in my head. Why is there cold metal on my face? _

Hiei grabbed my shoulders from where he was laying on his back beside me and rolled us out of the way as a giant hammer crashed down on the pressure pad where we had just been laying. I coughed from the dust that was kicked up and felt myself being lifted slowly from the ground and into a sitting position against a wall. Some of the feeling was gradually returning to me and I concentrated on moving my fingers first.

Tiara, Christy, and Dusty ran to me and squeezed me in a hug, but I couldn't lift my arms to hug them back yet.

"Are you okay?" they asked simultaneously.

"I'll be fine," I said, but it was hard to concentrate on what anyone was saying, let alone myself.

They backed up as Yusuke began giving out orders and I was hazily able to watch him drag some sort of bust into a small indentation on the floor. Hiei sat down next to me with a heavy sigh.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"My shoulder aches again and I have a few burns." He shrugged.

"Sorry." He lifted the hand of his aching shoulder and put it on _my_ shoulder for a moment before letting it fall limply back to his side. Yusuke pushed a large white block past us and over to the hammer that had almost squashed us.

My head slumped after him so I could watch what he was doing but instead my gaze focused on a picture beside me of Hephaestus pounding an anvil with a large hammer. As I was examining this, Yusuke had set off the hammer and it crushed the white block he had been pushing. The block had actually been a mold and another bust was revealed to be on the inside. Yusuke pumped a fist in the air excitedly and pulled it back past us to another indentation on the floor.

"He's lame," I mumbled, but Hiei caught it.

He snorted in amusement, but when I didn't join him, he questioned, "The detective?"

"No, this guy," I tapped the picture with my index finger. "Hephaestus—he's lame. Look at how he's hunched over his anvil and his feet are turned at awkward angles. I can relate. ….But not right now." I pushed against the wall behind me and very slowly rose to my feet, Hiei alongside me.

"Hey Three-Eyes," Yusuke called upon seeing us up. "How are you feeling?"

"Why?" demanded Hiei.

"Kurama figured out how to get the third statue but we need someone fast to retrieve it. You have to crawl up on top of the hammer and then get onto that ledge and then the ledge above the key and then swing to the block."

Without a word, Hiei went to accomplish his task. I had zoomed in on the part about the key and had finally taken note of the miniature gate in front of a pedestal with a glowing key on it. It looked like three busts needed to be put in the small indentations on the floor to open the gate. Hiei was on an upper level to my right and currently pushing another mold to the floor while favoring his sore shoulder.

The mold exploded into a shower of white chunks and a bust was standing neatly on the floor. Tayg dragged it over into the last indentation, forming a triangle of busts on the floor. However, this did not open the gate.

"Damn, I thought for sure that would work," Yusuke cursed.

"Wait, it still might," said Tiara. "Look at the gold diamonds by each statue. One end is longer than the others on each one and they're all pointing to…." She walked into the middle of the statues. "....Here."

Dusty, Kuwabara, and Christy all took stations at a statue and turned them so they were facing the appropriate direction. The pressure pad that I was standing beside popped a little higher out of the floor. Hiei had returned to my side and stepped on this since he was the closest.

The hammer came down, jarring the locks on the gate and bringing it down also. Hiei stuffed a medi-pack into my backpack at the same time as Tiara brought me a silver key with an amethyst jewel on it.

"Good, now let's get the hell out of here," I advised.

The way back to the tower room was much easier since the disco ball had gone back to a less erratic pattern that we could get past without injury. The gate on this side of the double-gate/spear trap was strong enough that one of us could hang onto it without it falling off like the other one. Pulling the switch on the wall and raising it was enough height for us to reach the hole above the gate again and climb out to the tower room.

As we stepped onto the threshold of Hephaestus's room, a long shelf slid out from beneath us, providing an easier path back to the tower.

"I did a lot of useful stuff that time," Yusuke boasted as we made our way back onto the tower. "I should be a lead tomb raider, too."

"What are you talking about, Urameshi?" Kuwabara demanded. "I did more than you, I should be a lead tomb raider!"

The rest of us just rolled our eyes because the rest of us had done just as much as those two bozos had. Besides, if they were constantly going to argue like this, what made them think I was going to let them be a secondhand to me?

"Oh will you two shut up? I don't feel like you masculine bullcrap right now," I snapped, but neither heard me as they started throwing rude retorts back and forth and slugging one another. "C'mon, you morons, I don't have the patience for your shenanigans right now," I pleaded, attempting to usher them away from the edge of the platform.

Stupid idea. As I pushed them away from falling to their horrible demise, they both thought it was the other and turn on me so that I got slugged double time. The punches were so hard that I was thrown backward and introduced to the same fate I had just saved them from.

Numerous cries of "Kat!" and "Katie!" faded from my ears as I fell but it was the one cry of "Onna!" that brought my dazed mind back to life and my eyes centered on one of the two shelves above me with a golden hook. My hand grasped onto the grapple on my belt and I threw as hard as I could….

The claws gripped the hook and I almost got whiplash from the sudden stop. So surprised that that had actually worked, all I could do for several minutes was pull myself into a sitting position in midair and breathe deep.

Then my teammates dropped down onto the level of the tower beside me and Christy yelled, "Kat!"

In relief Hiei sighed, "Onna," and then remembered that I was still hanging by a grapple line. "Swing over and I will catch you."

I took a quick look in his direction and then turned my attention to the ground, wondering if a drop from this height would be enough to kill me or if it would just break a few bones. People had fallen from two stories before and survived, hadn't they?

Hiei identified the look and growled, "Don't even think about it."

Who was I kidding? I was no Lara Croft and I would never even come close. Sure, I had brought this collection of people this far and even if we did make it out of here alive, how would we get past The Obelisk? Atlantis? The Great Pyramid? We didn't stand a chance. Especially if all they could do was argue and taunt each other all the time.

"Onna," Hiei's growl deepened warningly.

"Like you care," I muttered, still concentrating on the floor.

"Kat, c'mon," Yusuke pressed. "We don't know how long that hook is going to hold. Swing over here and we'll talk about this."

I sighed and, with another hopeless look at the gathering of wannabe explorers, started swinging my legs back and forth. _Suicide is a cowardly death_, I could almost hear Hiei saying, but I was a coward. I guess I could die with more dignity if I went out with my dirty tomb raider boots on.

I recalled the grapple and was caught by Hiei's arms. I pushed him off right away, glared at him, and told him, "Stop pretending. It doesn't suit you whatsoever." I then dropped down to the first level and used a broken ladder to get down to the ground.

Ignoring whatever protests and efforts made to stop me, I walked over to a set of stairs that went up to a switch and pulled said switch.

"Kat, I'm really sorry," Yusuke implored me when I still ignored him and walked back to a piece of one of the upper platforms that I could use to reach the ladder again. "Why are you so mad about that?"

"Why am I so mad?!" I whirled on him. Was he that stupid? "I almost frickin' died!"

His expression morphed into sheepish. "But you didn't."

"Yeah, no thanks to you." I only took a few more steps before I suddenly sagged into a puddle and drew my knees up to my face. "This is useless. We're never going to make it out of here alive! We're done!"

* * *

~TIARA'S POV~

"She's losing it," Yusuke murmured, staring at Katie worriedly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Before you moved here…." With a curious glance from Kurama, he added, "And before you and Hiei met her, Kat had a breakdown. She was really depressed and….well, I guess you would say she went insane for a while. She started doing really weird stuff and it had Christy, Kuwabara, and me wondering if she would make it through."

"What kind of weird stuff?" Dusty asked.

He shook his head. "If you want to know, you better ask her, it's not up to me to say. But the point is, when she gets really overwhelmed or sad, she has mini breakdowns. This might be something big enough to break her entirely." He turned to Hiei. "You have to do something."

"I do?"

"You're her Guardian," Yusuke told him.

"You heard her, detective. She doesn't want me to talk to her."

"She doesn't want you to pretend like you care, midget," Kuwabara inputted. "Be sincere."

"I suppose you think I should take your advice, fool?"

Yusuke sighed and then turned to the eloquent redhead of our group. "You better go do it, then."

Kurama frowned uncertainly at Hiei and then approached Katie.

"Kat." He carefully laid a hand on her shoulder since she had started to sob. "Please, you have to come out of this. We need you."

"Come out of this?" she sniffed. "How? We're all going to die here."

"Don't say that," Kurama gently scolded. "You've gotten us this far."

"Kurama, ever since The Lost Valley, I've almost gotten us killed numerous times."

"No, Kat, you've almost gotten you killed numerous times, and that was because you refused to accept help from any of us." He pointed toward the rest of us. "Look, you have plenty of able-bodied people with you who are glad to help. All you have to do is ask. Assign us jobs and we'll do them without objection. I will help you whenever you need me, no matter what the problem is."

"He's one hell of a pro at pep talks," Yusuke smiled.

Katie considered us and then her friend in front of her. "Promise? No matter what it is?"

Kurama smiled. "Yes, I promise. That's what friends do, and you have many. But for now I think you should rest; that last room shocked your system and I'm sure that doesn't help."

Katie snorted sarcastically. "You're so funny, fox boy. But no, I want to keep going. I want to get home."

Kurama frowned disapprovingly. "Kat, a friendship is like a highway, it goes both ways. You have to take the advice of your friends, too, in order for it to work."

"Fine," she conceded. "Let's head up to Poseidon, it's the closest open room."

* * *

~DUSTY'S POV~

"I'm worried about Katie," I told Tayg.

"Aye? 'N' why is that?" he asked, sitting cross-legged beside me. "She was well 'nough t' stand watch."

"I know," I said. "But she was complaining about her back hurting. What if she damaged it? I don't want her to have _another_ surgery. And her thoughts about killing herself today really scared me."

The Irish dude pulled me into his lap and hugged me. "She's a'ight. After wha' th' fox boy jus' told her, I think th' muscles 'r' jus' tense now; she jus' needs t' rest."

Hiei was looking at us. He now had his left arm bandaged as well as his right and his legs were also wrapped up to the knee. He scanned everyone else who were asleep in various places in the hall and the room by the gate-spears-gate trap except for Christy who, I think, was having the same conversation with Kurama and hugging.

The black clad fire youkai rose and walked down the hall to the threshold of the door where Katie was standing guard.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

I heard soft footfalls behind me and my nose picked up Hiei's scent. Whatever it was, it was really good. Like a combination of smoke and pine with faint traces of death mixed in. After all the time I had spent with him, I never really thought about it.

He peered over the edge. "Hn, aren't we on a restricted schedule?"

"No, not at the moment," I answered, rubbing the base of my neck. "Pierre needs all four keys to escape this place and we have one. He's probably just waiting for us to make our move—wherever he's hiding."

A moment later, a crystal dangled in front of my face on a makeshift cord of bandage wrap. I slowly took it from Hiei's grasp since at the moment it hurt to raise my arms very far. He sat beside me and remained silent, staring out at the scenery and contemplating the day's disheartening events.

"It came from the smith's room. The wrap will have to do until I can get a proper chain for it. There are some strong metals forged in the Makai."

I carefully reached up and tugged gently on the chain of his tear gem. "Like this one?"

"Hn." He gave me an expectant look and I held the crystal back out to him.

"Will you put it on? It hurts to raise my arms very far."

He did as I requested and then squeezed the sore muscle. I swatted his hand away and he narrowed his eyes at me before forcing me to stay still so he could sit behind me and massage my neck and shoulders.

"Quit being so cranky, Eneco," I chuckled.

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"It's my nickname for you. It means 'fiery one' in Spanish. I thought of it after I came up with Lalo for Tiara's Brionian."

"Hn." I translated that as _If you insist of calling me something other than my given name, then I suppose I approve of it. _It's amazing how you can get something so complex from the tone Hiei says one word in.

The heat was relaxing my muscles and the pain was progressively receding. He worked his way down, pressing on the muscles around my spine and coming to the small of my back.

I knew he was trying to make up for today. In his mind, he felt that he had failed because I had gotten hurt and almost killed. If the latter had happened, I suppose he would have, but, luckily for him, it didn't.

"You don't have to do this," I assured him.

"Yes I do," he insisted. "It's because of me that you're hurting now."

"Don't blame yourself," I yawned after a bit. "I don't." I snuggled back into him; I was getting way to comfortable.

"I can't protect you if I am defeated so easily." He put an arm around my waist, the other atop my head and ruffled my hair, bumping my right ear.

My tail starting thumping against his leg and that little tickle caused a whimpered sigh to bubble up my throat. He jerked his hand back thinking that it was a sound of pain but when I snuggled closer, he placed it back.

"Don't beat yourself up." I yawned again. "Just don't leave me and we'll be fine."

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

Why wasn't she angry with me? It was because I was too slow that she got injured. Perhaps she isn't so bad. I shouldn't let my emotions get the best of me but….

I put an arm around her to keep her from falling over the edge and rubbed her head like a dog would appreciate. I accidentally bumped her ear and jerked my hand away thinking I had heard a pained whimper but when she nestled against me, I realized it was a sound of content.

_That's….interesting. I'll have to talk to the fox later. _

"Don't beat yourself up." She yawned again. "Just don't leave me and we'll be fine." I buried my nose in her white hair and was assaulted by the scent of vanilla….coconuts?

"I won't leave you," I promised into her hair. There was no answer; she was asleep. Somehow, though, I felt that I would be letting her down soon enough.

I sighed.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

I awoke across the room from Christy and her Guardian, my head on my backpack and Hiei's cloak over me. Hiei was resting beside me, sitting with his head on his arms which were atop his knees. His katana was tucked in the crook of one arm and he looked as though he hadn't been sleeping very long at all.

My shoulder was stiff and I had a crick in my neck so I finally decided to lay on my back until everyone else was up. However, when I rolled over, it woke my Guardian.

"Are you ready to leave, onna?" he asked.

I nodded and called across the room, "Christy! Kissy Nae!" Next I tried the couple in the corner. "Feather Duster! Dusty!" Well, Dusty and Christy wouldn't wake up if you dropped an atomic bomb on them so I tried my last resort. "T! T-Rex! Tiara! Holy jeez! I'm going to throw something at them. ….A shoe."

I bent down to take off my boot and then decided against it. "My boots have too many laces to put back on. Let me use yours." I grabbed his foot.

Hiei let out a sharp hiss of pain and instinctively backhanded me.

"Ow! Fudge! What did you do that for?" I whispered hoarsely.

"Don't touch me, onna." _Can you say bi-polar, boys and girls?_

"So you slap me? What the hell did you do?" I asked while holding my stinging cheek. Hiei turned his eyes to his boot and then slipped it off, showing the bandages Kurama had put on a while ago. There was blood beginning to seep through and there was some of what looked like a burn poking out of the top.

"What the flip?" I cried. "Did you burn yourself?"

He glared at me. "You think I would injure myself? It's that damned snow you made me trudge through back in Peru. It got inside my boots."

"Oh, duh Shorty, he's a fire youkai," I reminded myself.

"Looks like the lil' fire youkai got kinda buggered up, aye?" came Tayg's voice.

My Guardian turned his glare to him and then put his boot back on, giving a curt, "Hn."

Everyone else was now getting up, probably from the loud slap. Tiara rose from her spot with Yusuke and came to crouch in front of me.

"Are you felling better?" she whispered.

I nodded and scooted closer to Kurama. "I have a question for you."

"Alright, what is it?" he said, sticking to his promise.

"How come it feels really good when someone touches my ear?"

Kurama smiled. "Foxes show affection by nibbling ears and rubbing heads. Your instincts tell you that such an action is a way of them saying 'I love you'."

"Oh." Tiara and I looked at each other, smiled, and began rubbing heads.

* * *

~KURAMA'S POV~

I chuckled at the girls' antics. There was never a dull moment with them around. Christy stirred in my lap.

"Who do you love?" she asked still half asleep.

I smiled. "You."

"Nu-uh," she argued, catching me off guard. "You just told someone you loved them and it was not me."

"I was merely explaining the ways of how foxes show affection." I gestured to Tiara and Kat.

"Well, what are they?" she asked.

I smiled again, bent down, and began rubbing my head against hers which sent her into a giggling frenzy.

_Kiss her!_ Youko's voice rang in my head. _I don't want to rub heads, kiss her now!_

_Now is not the time_, I told him.

_Why not?_ he demanded.

_There are too many people around. _

_I don't care!_

_You will if Yusuke and Kuwabara catch us. _

Youko growled and sent me a mental image of him sitting in a corner, pouting and tail twitching.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

"Foxes," Hiei shook his head.

Christy raised a finger pointedly but did not look at the Koorime. "I would remind you that I am not a fox, but I'm having too much fun right now."

"Hn, this is a stupid waste of time," said the dark youkai.

Now Christy looked at him, "Whatever. You're just jealous 'cause no one will rub heads with you."

"I would not engage in such foolish things," Hiei retorted.

"Well we will so go over there and be quiet," I told him. He rolled his eyes and snatched his cloak from me before going across the room to lean on the wall.

"Pissy pants," I mumbled. Tiara got up and practically skipped across the room as Yusuke awoke and rubbed heads with him, too. There was a twinge of jealousy in my gut and I looked out of the corner of my eye to Hiei. He was also watching my friends.

Christy grinned at me. "You two need to make out or something." She faked a gasp. "What? I didn't say anything." I buried my face in my backpack and laughed a little. After that last bit of alone time with him, I sort of wished I could, but not enough to try. _Stupid emotions!_

Kuwabara and Dusty woke up some time later and we returned to the second level of the tower. At this point, we could see a switch across from us but to reach it, someone would have to climb up to the third level and just down. We had Tayg do it. The door that opened was even with the second level but could only be accessed from the third. The doorway read _Damocles_.

"Oh no, I can't do that one," I panicked. "The old one was hard enough, I can't—"

Kurama grasped my shoulder and smiled encouragingly at me. "If anyone can do it, you can."

I slumped at his faith in me and the way he could always replenish my strength just by saying one sentence. Without further protest, I began the ascent to the third level where we had to tug down another pillar to be a bridge for us. We gathered two medi-packs from the area around this and then moved left over some ledges and climbed a few cracks down to get to the Damocles room.

There was the usual gate-spears-gate trap, but the hole above this one was clogged by a stone block. Fortunately for us, there was a hook for my grapple on the end and we jerked it out of there. Then Yusuke decided to test the strength of the first gate by climbing onto it and bouncing up and down.

"Feels strong enough to me," he said. "But I don't think I can reach the hole from the top. Why don't we try riding it up? Somebody pull the switch over there."

Tiara tended to this job, approving of this method more than the last. However, the gate barely got five inches of the ground before it slid back down its runnings, showering sparks.

"Alright, maybe it isn't strong enough," grumbled Yusuke.

"But it is strong enough to pull itself up," Tiara said.

"So we'll push the block under the gate to hold it up and we'll climb over," directed Dusty.

So that's what we did and it wasn't long before we were all successfully on the other side, walking the hall in silence to the puzzle that was Damocles. A pressure pad led us into the exact room and I became even more paranoid and twitchy, waiting for something sharp to fall on one of our heads.

In an effort to try and occupy my mind, Yusuke commented, "Why were you so scared of this place? There's nothing here."

He was right. For the moment, there wasn't anything hazardous to our health but it was only a matter of time. I scanned the decorative Grecian pillars and the odd pattern of red and white checkered tiles with strange slits on the floor in between.

"You don't know who Damocles is?" I asked quietly.

"A guy who liked checkers?" Kuwabara guessed while catching sight of the weird tiles.

"No," I spun around to the rest of my friends. "None of you know the legend of Damocles?"

Kurama gave me a small smile since he obviously did but didn't see how the legend pertained to this room. "Why don't you tell us, Kat?"

"Damocles expressed how much he wished he was the king, not for the power, but for the constant protection the king had. To disprove Damocles's belief, the king sat Damocles on his throne during a feast at the castle. At the end of the feast, Damocles looked up and saw a sword suspended above his head by a single piece of horsehair which the king had put there just to show how much danger he was in everyday."

"What 'appened t' th' lad?" Tayg asked. "Did 'e die?"

"No, he didn't," I replied and then softly supplied, "But _we_ might."

"Why this time?" Christy asked.

We had made it across the room and into a smaller adjoining room with the Damocles Key laying on a set of circular stone steps. This didn't seem harmless at all….until you looked above and spotted the chandelier with giant swords rather than crystals hanging off of it.

"Oh sh—" Kurama laid a hand over Christy's mouth.

"I'll go," Dusty volunteered when on one else did.

"Notta chance," blurted Tayg, his accent jumbling his words. "I dunna know much 'bout raidin' tombs but I'm smart 'nough t' know tha' those swords 'r' gonna fall when ya grab tha' key."

"Then I'll have to get out of the way before that happens," Dusty spoke stubbornly. "Don't argue with me."

"You—" Tayg began again but Dusty interrupted him.

"_You_ stand there and be quiet. I like you, Tayg, I really do, but you're breaking my concentration. Shh!"

Not wanting to distract her and get her impaled, Tayg clammed up as Dusty cautiously walked up the stone steps and stooped to pick up the key….

Then every sword plunged down from the chandelier. Smaller swords snapped out of the slits in the red and white tiles behind us and squares in the ceiling moved to make room for more blades ready to fall. I grimaced at the sounds of blades bursting out of the floor in unpredictable patterns.

"Dusty!" Tayg cried frantically.

From the other side of the stone steps Dusty came walking carrying both the silver key with a ruby stone and a medi-pack.

"I told you I would get out of the way in time."

Tayg sighed in relief. "Aye, that ya did."

"Hey Katie," Dusty pulled me from my nervous haze. "Part of a walkway fell down over there. You can use it to get up above the swords and I bet there's something important up there."

"Right," I agreed, anything but enthused about getting very high off the ground again.

But she was right. The pathway above the swords was near to some windows in the wall dividing Damocles into two rooms and on the windowsill of the one of the right was a lever. I pulled this and watched out the window as some swords on the left side of the room sank back into the floor.

Once back on the floor, I informed everyone, "This Damocles is more complicated than the last one but I know they didn't cut out the swords falling from the ceiling."

We should have kept an eye on the retard, though. He had strayed too far, looking for the other traps that awaited us and tripped the first sword. How convenient for him that Yusuke had been listening to my warning and saved his unintelligent best friend by pulling back on his shirt in the save fashion Hiei had saved the detective earlier.

"You frickin' wackadoo!" I shouted. "There's always one in front of the door. Don't you watch movies? If you would have listened, you would have heard me tell you to walk slowly on your way out and try to steer clear of a deadly path, if you can."

"Heh, sorry Shorty," the buffoon apologized.

"Perhaps Hiei and I could scout ahead and trip the traps," Kurama suggested and I approved this with a nod.

No one got skewered and when I reached the place where we had to cross over the red and white tile death sentence, Dusty was already hard at work studying the pattern that wasn't as unpredictable as I thought.

"The first one's safe when the pattern starts over. Then the second one on the left, the second one straight from there, the second one on the right and the third one from there since that's the end of the tiles. A pair should be able to pass through safely."

"Alright, um," I drew in a deep breath and took on my leader attitude again. "Yusuke, do you want to take Tiara and Lalo and go first?"

"Sure. Which ones are safe?"

"One, two, two, two, three," Tiara repeated.

When they made it over safely, it was all water under the bridge for the rest of us and then our scouts went forward to trip the rest of the blades in the ceiling. I had to go back around to the side of the room we had just come from, but on the other side of a set of blades dividing it. There was a switch on a spinning wheel up above the door and as far as we could see, the only way to reach it was by climbing on top of the Grecian pillars. Since I was the only one with a grapple, I was the only one for the job.

"It's not going to stay open for long," Tiara said and tried to lighten the mood by joking, "We'll have to leave someone behind."

"I vote Hiei," Kuwabara said seriously.

"Hn, you forget fool. You're the only one without a charge here. You're the only option."

Kuwabara slumped. "Are you serious?"

"No, idiot," Hiei snapped. "The fairy onna was trying to make a joke and you missed the punch line."

"Shut up, shrimp!"

I left them to argue while I picked my way over to a top of a pillar that had been knocked off. It made a perfect platform to climb up to the other side of the windows. There was a very thin white pole that I had to partially climb and then do a flip-jump to reach a pillar. There were only two pillars on this side and I had to get to the three on the other side to reach the exit switch. This required a wall run and then flip-jump over the blades below to get on the appropriate pillars. From there, though, it was no big deal to reach the exit switch and, every several grueling turns, the door below was high enough for my gang to sneak under. I had to perform a doge roll to keep from getting cut in half by the thick door but then it was easy for us to leave the horrific (for me) room.

"That switch that I pulled on ground level opened Atlas," I said once we were back on the tower. "It's up close to the top of the room so we should probably do Poseidon on the way." I turned to my group and singled out the youngest of us….aside from Lalo, but he didn't count. "Dusty, this is for you." I held my shotgun out to her, which was actually a funny sight to see a scrawny fourteen year old holding. At least she could keep the end up. "You were a lot of help in there. I'm bumping you up to my second in command."

Then I turned to Kurama. "That doesn't mean that you can slack. You're still Chief Puzzle Solver."

Dusty pumped a fist in the air excitedly and then holstered the powerful gun in the shoulder holster I had given her. Then, as her first action as second in command tomb raider, she took the lead in getting us down to the first level of the tower.

A shelf could be pulled out near the first level of the tower and cracks and ledges to the right of it gave us access to Poseidon. Water had pooled in the hall to the usual gate-spear-gate trap, and I just passed this off as a perk of being one of the lower doors. It hadn't yet registered who Poseidon was.

"No alternate routes or blocks to hold open the gate. I'd say it's a safe bet that you can actually ride this gate to get _into_ the room this time," Yusuke said.

And he was right. We rode the first gate to reach the hole and when we had set foot into the hall on the other side we were attacked by….three rats. _Annoying but easy to dispose of._ The room they were "protecting" had only a square pool in the middle and murals of, I assumed Poseidon, riding on….sea horses?

"Wait a minute. Who exactly is Poseidon?" I asked my foxy friend as we walked around the room looking for a puzzle.

Kurama smiled. "The symbol most associated with Poseidon is the trident. He was the brother of Zeus and Hades—the God of the Sea."

"The God of the Sea?" I repeated. "Then who was Neptune?"

"Ah, you see, Neptune is the God of the Sea in _Roman_ Mythology," he clarified

"I'm guessing the puzzle for Poseidon is underwater considering there's nothing here," Tiara said.

And she was right. This whole leader thing was a lot easier when you had people doing the work for you half the time. There was a lever to open a gate under the water and that took us to a new room. This would be a very beautiful place to stand and admire for a while if you weren't trying to get home. Just looking at the place gave me a pleasant feeling. The Poseidon room had two levels and water was up to the first one; the roof was domed with a skylight. Too bad we couldn't escape from there. We were currently standing on a circle with swirly water designs and there was a bridge connecting it to the middle circle where a column was holding up the second level. There was a switch facing us and a bridge with blue tile to the right of that column going to a circle. That circle was adorned with a fish statue, water spouting from its mouth.

We first climbed up the column to the second level. There was another fish to the left but this one had a brick blocking its mouth. That seemed a little, heh, _fishy_ to me so I pulled it out….

And was promptly blown onto my rump by the rush of water that had be building up inside. Laughing, I turned onto my side and watched the water level rise up to be even with this path.

"I guess that was to reach that switch, right?" Dusty didn't even wait for a reply before she dove into the water and pulled the lever. When she came back, she announced, "It opened a gate on the floor and let out a wooden platform. But it's stuck so we're going to have to drop the water again."

It took me all of thirty seconds to realize we would need a wooden platform that could float to reach an opening above the locked gate with the Poseidon Key inside.

"Hn, there's a brick over there," Hiei spoke from beside me. "It could be used to stop the other statue."

I took his idea and jumped into the water to reach the brick he had spotted. Who would have thought that I would miss swimming so much after all the water we had dealt with already? I pushed the block into the water and it sank down onto the same circle as the other fish statue.

"Okay, put the cork in that one," I called across and Christy took care of this.

Once the water stopped going down, I dove into it and climbed out by the other fish statue and plugged this one up also. The water drained into grates on the floor and the wooden platform was free to be dragged wherever I wanted it.

After making my way to the floor, I latched onto the platform with my grapple and dragged it over to where it would be right under the alcove we needed once the water rose again. Instead of making me climb all the way back up to the top level, however, Hiei climbed down and pulled the plug on the first fish so I just rode the current upward. He joined me for the ride and Christy took care of the second fish.

While Hiei and I took a breather, Kuwabara was sent to get the key. This was a big laugh because aside from being clumsy, my dumb friend was also very tall and had to get on his hands and knees to fit through the hole above the gate. He came back with the silver key holding a blue-green stone not too long after he disappeared through the opening and then we were out of there.

Our last stop for this level was a door with the label _Atlas_ on it which we could only arrive at after making use of the shelves at the top of the tower and some ledges below it.

"Atlas?" read Kuwabara. "A room full of maps?"

"No you retard, we're in Greece, remember? Atlas has a legend behind him, too," I said and then commenced the tale as we rode the gate into the next puzzle. "Atlas angered the gods and was punished by Zeus to carry the weight of the heavens on his back. Someone named Heracles collected apples nearby and went to reason with Atlas. Atlas agreed to pick apples for Heracles if Heracles would carry the heavens for a short while. Atlas tried to leave Heracles with the job forever but Heracles tricked Atlas and so Atlas was cursed to carry the heavens for all eternity."

When we came into the puzzle room, I pointed across a pit and up the hall to a golden sculpture of Atlas, hunched over under the weight a giant golden globe.

"The world, and if you don't have the strength to surpass Atlas, then it will crush you." I scanned over the group and then turned back to the puzzle. "There are holes up there and I'm sure that poles will come out to get back across the pit. I'll do it."

"Kat," Kurama said unsurely.

I smiled. "It's okay, Kurama. I can do this one. Promise."

I grabbed onto one side of a nearby turning wheel switch and Dusty grabbed the other side. Together we were able to crank it enough that a temporary floor stretched out over the wide pit.

"Why don't we just keep the floor there?" wondered Kuwabara.

"Jeez, Kuwa, even _I_ think that's obvious," Tiara said. "That globe is going to come rolling down the slope and if it rolls across the pit on the floor, it will squish us all."

"Exactly," I replied as Tayg took over my place at the turning wheel.

As soon as I was on the other side, they let the floor retract and I had a momentary feeling of uncertainty that I would make it back across before I caught sight of Kurama's confident smile. I slowly walked up the slope to a ledge that I could climb on the left. I could see a switch up there and once I pulled it, my guess from earlier proved correct as a pole extended from a hole on either side of the pit.

I hopped back to the floor and watched the globe very carefully. In the last game, if you walked too close on the ramp, it set the boulder off but I walked right up to Atlas and his globe did not fall off his shoulders. At his feet was two sets of spears guarding the key and underneath them was a box of shotgun shells; I picked these up, thinking they might be the trigger.

They weren't and it wasn't until I studied the globe with a flame steadily burning inside that I noticed the target by each of Atlas's arms. Backing further away from the globe, I shot the target on the left side. Atlas's grip slipped a little, he hunched over a bit more, and the first set of spears retreated back into the floor. I backed up a couple more feet and shot the right target.

Atlas's grip slipped entirely and the globe came crashing down. I kicked into fourth gear and sprinted back down the slope with the death ball grinding down the walls behind me but still hot on my trail. Just when I thought I couldn't run anymore, the ground fell out from in front of me and I jumped up to the pole and flipped off to the safety of my friends. The globe broke through the poles like twigs and then fell to its end down the seemingly bottomless pit.

I handed the shotgun shells to Dusty. "Here. Divvy these up with Yusuke. I'll be right back."

After the initial adrenaline wore off, Dusty and Tayg rolled the floor back out and I returned for the sliver key with the emerald stone that was the Atlas Key. Then we rode the gate partially back out of here and used some poles to get to the hole.

Back outside, we climbed our way back down the tower to ground level. Once there, we used the keys in the keyholes with jewels that corresponded with those on the keys. Each time, a bar over the door slid back and finally we could leave. Hopefully the darkness of this tomb would stay behind as we moved onto our next mission: to serve as gladiators in The Coliseum.

* * *

**A/N:** Whoa! That was probably the longest chapter I have ever written on any of my stories! Sorry, I hope at least some of you like to read things in large quantities. Anyway, this worked well last chapter so....I want at least--let me say that again, _at least_--one review before I update again. The next chapter will be dedicated to you if you do so. Thank you!!

Please Review!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Not much to say this time. This chapter is again dedicated to **jasmine**.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven—We Are The Gladiators**

The long, moist hallway underneath the monastery that was Saint Francis Folly led us to what used to be the entrance of the marvelous Coliseum protected by the King of the Beasts. Now there was just a crumbling room and a blocked doorway guarded by two bats that looked like it was the end of our journey.

"You can't tell me we came all this way for this new game to screw us over," Yusuke scowled.

"No, no, there's gotta be a way," I said. "There's always a way. You just give up too easily."

No doubt he was about to comment on my episode in the last level but Kurama interrupted that with the command of, "Shh! Listen! Do you hear that?"

We all fell silent, trying to decipher what the fox wanted us to listen for. It took me a minute but finally my ears caught the faint _Sploosh!_ of a piece of the wall hitting deep water. Dusty and Christy's ears swiveled toward the right and Lalo left Tiara's shoulder, flying up toward the ceiling.

"It's disguised by the debris," he called down to us.

"It's too loose to climb," said Kuwabara since he had gone to investigate and slid back down the wreckage.

"The doorway is still in tact," said Tiara. "If we could climb those chunks of wall on the left, we could climb over the doorway to the right."

As is usual with both Tiara and Kurama, she was right and we were soon behind the wall fragments that had blocked our view of the water. Apparently the Coliseum was flooded underneath and the caving in of the monestary above had knocked in an entrance for us.

I bet you're wondering, _Who would be crazy enough to just go swimming in a flooded hole in the ground where there could be no exit?_ I know, I was wondering the same thing so I sent Kurama down to check it out and he reported back that there were actually halls down there. Obviously if there was a way in, there had to be a way out, too, so we all took a dip, challenging ourselves with navigating the halls that had fallen in on themselves over time.

Luckily for us, there really was another way out and when we surfaced, we were graced with the presence of two rats and a bat. A needless detail until you take note of what the little critters were feeding on.

Upon noticing the skeletons laying in various large cages around the room, Christy began doing her ucky dance while Kurama casually noted, "Oh good, we're under the Coliseum now."

"How do ya know?" Tayg asked.

"The Greeks kept their animals for the games in tunnels under the Coliseum. They would have stored prisoners or possibly the losing gladiators under here also. After all, the animals had to be fed."

"Lovely images. Thanks, Kurama," I grumbled. There was a fence separating us from the way out, tall enough that the victims of the vicious animals couldn't escape by climbing over. Fortunately someone or something had broke a hole near the top and with the aid of a nearby cage, we were able to climb over.

A dirt path of sorts rose up out of the prisons and bright light shone down signaling our way out. Once we stepped out into the arena at the top, we were momentarily blinded from the sunlight blazing down through the domed roof.

My vision cleared and two black shapes that had been swimming in my vision formed the definite shapes of gorilla's sniffing around the arena, obviously only recently released from captivity. _Now who could have done that?_

One spotted us and roared angrily, moving to pick up a broken piece of the arena wall. And boy were they some big apes, too!

"Holy sh—!" cried Yusuke and shoved his mentally challenged friend aside along with Tiara when the brick came sailing over my head and rolled down the path behind us. Then he called, "Hey, Hiei, _we're_ gonna play decoy this time. Kat, get everyone else up to the stands."

I didn't argue and found another portion of the wall that had fallen that could easily serve as a ramp up to the stands. While Yusuke and Hiei distracted the apes, we hurried to the upper level and then the two boys followed us where we could pick off the beasts from a safe distance.

"Better pick up the pace," called a distinct French voice.

I huffed and placed my hands on my hips. "Oh no, he did _not_ just tell me to hurry up! I'd like to see _him_ lead a bunch of greenhorns through a series of tombs!"

"Duck!" screamed Christy.

We all hit the deck (Well, actually, Hiei sort of threw me to the floor since I had been distracted) just as another brick was thrown our way. One gorilla ventured close enough that Kurama could dismember it with is Rose Whip and Dusty chased the other a quarter of the way around the arena with her shotgun before it keeled over.

When that was taken care of, we took note of our surroundings and tried to figure out where our next objective would be. There was a door on either side of where we had entered as gladiators but both were closed so my guess was that we were supposed to find a switch somewhere. There was a set of what would be called box seats nowadays and portions of the ceiling had fallen dangerously close to these spots but they were still being supported by the pillars. And yet other parts of the ceiling had fallen off entirely and inflicted varying degrees of damage on the Grecian pillars. It was one of these pillars behind us that looked the most promising.

I stepped up the benches to get to the pillar, killing bats while my team trooped after me demanding where I was going.

"The cracks in this pillar are deep enough that we can climb them." I gestured to the left. "When that section of the wall collapsed, it buried the direct entrance to the box seats but if we use this pillar, we'll be able to climb over and use what's left of the pillar on the other side to get into the box seats."

"Why are we going to the box seats?" wondered Tiara.

"Important things were kept in the box seats in the old version," I simply stated and acted in accordance with my idea. It worked smoothly and my knowledge of the old version had been correct again. Where royalty or wealthy guests would have been seated was a lever and in a hall behind the seating area was a gate with a keyhole beside it.

"You're kidding," said Dusty. "After all the keys we had to go around getting in the last level, we don't have the one that fits this lock?"

"'Course not," said Tayg. "'S a sure bet th' switch takes us t' th' key."

Hiei had entered the special seating area and was staring intently at the box seats opposite the one we were standing in.

"There's an open hall in that one," he told me as I took hold of the lever in the floor.

"It's just open?" I asked.

"Hn."

"And there's no way for us to climb up there from the bleachers….That's gotta be the exit."

I pulled back on the lever and we felt a door opening below us. Christy stepped over to the edge and looked down into the arena.

"It let out two lions and two gorillas," she announced.

"Oh, that means that this wasn't just a random lever like I thought," said Tiara. "It's the lever that the wealthy people used to release the animals on the gladiators."

"Uh oh," said Christy and then turned to run away. At the same time, a brick from down below (no doubt thrown by a gorilla when it caught sight of her) crashed just below where she was standing and caused the ledge to fall apart beneath her. One foot slipped off and she twisted her body away from the dangerous fall. I cringed at the sound of ligaments popping from the foot that was still on safe ground. Kurama caught her and we all backed into the hall where the bricks being hurled couldn't reach us.

"Holy jeez, Christy!" I cried. "That's the sixth time!"

"Yeah, I know, Kat." She sighed. "It doesn't really hurt anymore."

"But it wouldn't be very good for you to walk on it right away," Kurama advised.

I leaned against a wall in thought and then spoke to the fox, "Kurama, you and Christy can stay here. We'll have to come back to unlock that gate anyway." I tossed him a medi-pack and then ushered the rest of the team back out so we could climb back down to the floor.

* * *

~KURAMA'S POV~

"The _sixth_ time?" I asked as I wrapped Christy's ankle. She laughed gently, still being cautious of sending pain to her injury.

"Yeah, the first real time I was running dumbly in the drama room at school and I tripped over myself and twisted my ankle. The second real time I tripped and fell down the stairs in our house. The other three times were just random accidents when I was walking or something." She smiled. "Kat says whenever I get hurt, I do it in style."

"You need to take better care of yourself," I scolded, shaking my head.

"That's what you're here for," she told me and then fell silent. A moment later, out of the blue came, "I kinda want some mac 'n' cheese." I chuckled; her unexpected outbursts were quite amusing. "Or maybe some grilled cheese and ranch dressing. We "

_I kinda want some jewels and shiny trinkets_, Youko spoke from the back of my mind.

"Who's Youko?" Christy asked.

_Odd timing_, I thought.

_Ouch! Dagger to the heart!_ he yelped.

"I mean, Kat keeps talking about him, but who is he?"

_The guy that loves you!_

I tied a knot in the bandage wrap. "He's the fox spirit that was reincarnated into me."

"What's he look like?" she asked next.

"Believe it or not, he does look a lot like Kat," I replied.

_Do not!_ Youko yelled.

"Only he has golden eyes and is much taller—about seven feet."

"Jeez, he's a giant!" Christy cried.

_Don't forget the nine tails_, my alter ego reminded me.

"Oh yes, and he has nine tails."

"Do I get to meet him someday?" she questioned me excitedly.

_Yes_, said Youko.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. You see, he's—" I began but was cut off.

_You tell her anything negative and I swear I'll take you over in your sleep_, Youko threatened. I didn't want that. Who knew what he would do?

"He's rarely seen. I only let him out once and a while," I corrected myself.

Christy pouted. "Well you should let him out when we get back. How come he can't come out more often? Are you a fun sucker, Kurama?"

_Yes_, answered Youko.

"I like to have fun, but Youko's—" I was cut off again.

_Remember, you do sleep more often than I do."_

"My mother doesn't know about Youko," I altered my response again. "And I'm afraid that if she sees him, she won't accept me as her son anymore. She'll be ashamed."

"Why would you think that?" Christy asked me. "She's your mom; she'll always love you!" She paused. "And if she won't then I will!"

…_.Kiss her now!_ ordered Youko.

_Be quiet! I was going to anyway_, I told him.

* * *

~CHRISTY'S POV~

_Why? Why did I say that? Now our relationship might be ruined. Rubbing heads and saying he loves me is completely different from actually meaning it. _

I looked up, not expecting him to still be facing me but he was with nothing different about his expression except for a slight blush on his cheeks.

He bent down to me and his lips connected with mine. The smell of roses filled my senses and I felt warm and weightless. My ears laid back in contentment and the pain in my ankle diminished.

He bit down on my lip and I brought a hand behind his head, attempting to pull him closer and deepen the kiss. His arms wrapped around my waist and I wound my hands into his soft red hair. We stayed kissing like that for quite some time….until his tongue slid down my throat and I choked. He pulled away with a mildly surprised expression on his face.

"Getting a little too eager there, buddy?" I laughed.

"That was Youko," he insisted.

"Suuuuuurrre," I laughed again for a while and then pointed to my shoe. "My footsie is cold." He smiled, shaking his head and then picked it up and helped me put it back on.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

After showing our gladiator sides again, we traveled underneath the arena again and into another tunnel where the losers and animals were kept. This room, like the last one, had been separated by a fence but it looked like the gorillas that had previously been in here had done a number on it because it was now just firewood on the ground.

There wasn't anything of interest in the other section of the room, in fact, there wasn't anything of interest down here at all. We checked all of the cages and raided all of the corpses but there was nothing of use to us in this room—namely: a key.

"Where else would it be?" Dusty asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Let's go back to the bleachers. Maybe we missed something."

As we were walking out, though, we discovered a corpse that we had forgotten. The reason for this was because he was on top of a very tall cage and we wouldn't have found him at all had his arm not been hanging over the edge. Why he was up there was a mystery to me. I could only guess he might have been trying to escape the man-eating animals down here.

"Oy, Urameshi, gimme a boost," Tayg said since his wings were still wet from our swim into here.

With Tayg standing on Yusuke's shoulders, they were just barely tall enough for him to crawl onto the top of the cage and search the body. From the guy's tattered clothes he pulled a silver key with a white stone set in it and then we got the heck out of there. It smelled awful.

But wouldn't you know it? Some other big kitties had been released once we arrived back in the arena and we also had to take care of those before we could even think about climbing back up to the box seats where Kurama and Christy were waiting.

It wasn't until we had finished our battle that I whiffed the large amounts of compassion and some embarrassment radiating from the box seats. _Christy has become Kissy_, I thought and couldn't help but grin.

* * *

~KURAMA'S POV~

I looked up as the rest of our friends climbed back up to us. Tayg unlocked the gate across from us while Kat merely leaned against the wall and smirked at us.

"Quit lookin' at me!" Christy eventually ordered.

Kat's smirk grew into a smile and she asked, "You two weren't too naughty while we were gone, were you?" I immediately felt my face heat up.

"Kat!" cried Christy.

"Oh come on," Kat spoke. "We could all smell it. With how strong it was, I'm surprised you didn't attract the animals."

If possible, my blush deepened. Christy's face was scarlet. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Tayg doubled over laughing, using each other for support. Dusty shrugged and then sighed at Tiara who stood by dumbfounded since she could not smell the emotions in the air. Once the boys calmed themselves, I helped Christy to her feet and looked through the gate. There was a long ladder inside, leading up to the roof of this seating area. This would be a challenge.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

From the roof of the box seats, we could see a clear path of falling ceiling pieces that would take us around to the other set of box seats. The first section of ceiling was within jumping distance from where we were so Christy had to jog her sore ankle but, fortunately for her, the next piece of ceiling required the use of a grapple to reach. I tied off to some rocks on the next section and helped the others across.

We were about to enlist the aid of another crushed pillar to get to the third section when I spotted something shiny hidden among the rocks. I carefully climbed over some debris and found it to be a set of dual pistols in leather holsters. Holding them up so they caught the reflection of the sunlight coming through the dome, I read _.50 caliber_ carved into the barrel.

Jumping up, I gave a "Woot!" and then pranced over to Tayg, relinquishing my claim on my pistols and giving them to him. We both strapped on our weapons, beaming with excitement and then we continued our trek over to the roof of the second set of box seats. Some more rubble from the ceiling was piled just high enough that we could use it to get inside and reach the hall that Hiei had seen earlier.

The long hall inside was less damp and only contained one bat as a restraint from the next level. From the doorway of the next level, we could see a large statue of a man sitting on a throne with both of his arms broken off, one hand still laying on his armrest and the other lying at his feet. The golden letters on his throne read _MIDAS_.

* * *

A/N: Yes, there was some fluff in this chapter. My fellow authoress, KissyNae, told me exactly what she wanted to read for that scene so I'm sorry if some of you didn't like it. I tried to keep Kurama and Youko in character as much as possible. Tell me what you think! **At least** one review before I update again. Thanks!

~Kateracks


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** I am very proud to announce that this chapter is dedicated to **jasmine**....again. -.-' Come on, guys, I can see that you're reading it. No offense, jasmine. I really appreciate your reviews. It makes me smile every time you tell me that your enjoying the story. Thanks for your support. :D But I would like to hear if someone else is enjoying this, too. Read on!!

**Disclaimer:** I think I forgot this last time. Oops. This one is for both chapters then. I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Tomb Raider times two.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve—As Good As Gold**

The resistance to our success kept coming at us in increasing numbers and in larger packages. As we at the edge of a pool before Midas's throne, three of those monstrous gorillas tried to take our heads off. We took theirs off instead and then began memorizing our surroundings. There was a gate on either side of the room aside from the one we had entered through and a pool in the middle of the room with a gate in the bottom but it was currently barred shut. There was also a walkway up by Midas's shoulders and if we stepped to the side, we could see another closed gate behind his head.

Kurama was the first of us to approach the throne. Brushing aside a few dying vines, he scratched at the surface of one of the letters and then murmured to himself, "Midas." He was studying the rest of the statue when the rest of our group caught up to him. "The Hand of Midas?" I heard him utter and then he climbed up to where the hand was resting.

"Uh oh," I said, looking after him. "We better go get your foxy man, Christy. I think I just saw him sprout a tail."

"Pfft. I wish," said Christy and we climbed up after him.

"Alright, so what's so special about this Midas guy?" _Always the curious one, Yusuke. _

Kurama began, "Silenus was an old teacher to the god of revelry and drinking named Dionysus and one night he got drunk with wine. He was on his way home when he passed out in Midas's rose garden—"

"Wait a minute," I interrupted. "I thought he passed out and was taken to Midas by Phrygian peasants because Midas was their king."

Kurama smiled. "There is always more than one way to tell a story, Kat. I like the version with the rose garden better. It was said to be more extravagant and pungent than any other rose garden." _Should have known that was coming._ "At any rate, Midas cared for Silenus for ten days and on the eleventh day, returned him to Dionysus who was also Silenus's foster son. Dionysus offered Midas whatever reward he wanted and Midas asked for the gift that whatever he touched would turn to gold.

"You can only imagine how delighted he must have been to find out he had truly been given the gift so when he returned home, Midas set up a feast. However, the gift also became a curse when he turned his food and drink to gold. After things took a turn for the worst and he turned his own daughter to gold, Midas again went to see Dionysus and begged him to take back what had become a curse to him. Dionysus told Midas to bathe in the Pactolus River and when he did so, the power of gold left him and turn the river's sands to gold.

"Thus ended the part about his marvelous gift so the rest of the story is not important. The real question here is if this is the hand that used to contain the power of gold or if it is merely a piece of this statue now."

He put a hand to his face in thought and I decided to indulge him. "Only one way to find out."

He smiled. "Indeed." He took hold of the crystal I had tied around my neck. "May I?"

I nodded, not quite sure what he was planning on doing with it, but he only allowed the bandage wrap cord to brush the surface of the hand. The power of gold sparkled up the end of the necklace and transformed the cloth into a solid gold cord.

I grinned at Hiei. "Looks like you won't have to go to the Makai to get me a chain after all." He ignored me, his eyes also being glued to the enchanted hand; after all, Hiei had once been a thief, too.

"_Trust the Midas touch_!" sang Tiara.

Yusuke looked at her like she had just pulled a Kuwabara. "What was that?"

"A jingle for a car care company in America," answered Dusty.

"Here's a gold bar." Kurama had been exploring some more and, sure enough, set in the stone of the corner nearest Midas's hand was a golden bar. Upon further inspection, we found three more spaces for golden bars—one on the other side of Midas's feet and one on either side of the inscription of _MIDAS_.

"So we have to find three more gold bars?" asked Dusty.

"No," I corrected, recalling the puzzle from the old version of the game. "We have to find three lead bars and turn them to gold using the Hand of Midas. There's no switches down here; let's climb the throne and see if we can reach any from up there."

There was only one switch that we could reach from where we were and that was because it was set into the part of the throne behind Midas's shoulders. This opened the door on the right side of the room down on ground floor. Inside this door was a long hallway which branched after some time, either going right or straight.

We went straight first, only because we could see a room with sunlight from where we were standing. In the middle of this room was a support pillar with a golden gate around the base and behind this gate was one of the lead bars we were seeking.

"I'm guessing we're looking for something to lower that gate," said Yusuke. "There's a hall forward and to the left."

This was where we went next and the stairs inside circled around so that we were under the main support pillar. The thing had nearly fallen down it looked like, since there were massive breaks at it's base and three wooden braces were holding the pillar in place.

And wouldn't you know it? Once we stepped inside the small room, waiting on the other side to ambush us was a gathering of gorillas and lions. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been too incredibly difficult except that the room was cramped and so we could use the long-range whips or too much fire power without hitting our comrades. Dusty, Tayg, Hiei, Yusuke, and I were best suited for the job but then we also had to defend the rest of our friends.

After several minutes of dodging, shoving, and shooting, we had taken out half of the animal resistance, but most of those were cats and so the gorillas were still lumbering around trying to smash us. When one was distracted by the gunfire of Yusuke, I ran into give it a sure shot between the eyes, but that plan was flawed once Yusuke had to reload. The gorilla turned toward me and clubbed me backwards with its beefy arm.

I hit one of the wooden braces to the pillar and it broke out from beneath me. The pillar shifted and then I got an idea; most of my friends were near the hall and could take cover if the pillar gave out.

"Hiei, give me a hand!" I pointed to the brace closest to him. "Guys! Get into the hall!"

Hiei stepped closer to the brace and ducked when the gorilla swung at him again. The second brace went flying and my idea would have worked if the gorilla had not also punched the pillar and knocked a piece loose. Hiei pulled me to the side as the base exploded and the whole thing came crashing down, dropping parts of the ceiling and burying us in dust.

When the air had cleared a bit and I could sit up, I found that my team had not made it to the hall in time. I could see Kuwabara's now dirty orange hair the closest to the safe spot but no one else was there.

"Where is everybody? Sound off!"

"Hn."

"I'm okay," said Kuwabara, shaking the dust from his head.

"We're alright here," said Kurama from the corner nearest us while helping Christy stand.

"Aye, 'ere too," said Tayg once he dug Dusty out of a pile of rocks.

A mound of dust not too far from me shifted and Yusuke emerged coughing and then Tiara stood up from underneath him.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine," said Yusuke. "But do you have to be so loud?"

"Well, here's one good thing," Dusty said, walking to us and holding the lead bar. "The pillar dropped far enough that the lead bar fell out and the animals are dead."

"Lalo?" Tiara called worriedly. The Brionian was not in his usual place on her shoulder. "Lalo?!"

She dropped to her knees and began digging through the area where she had been laying. Yusuke ran up to help her and together they kicked up a good amount of dirt before they found the alien.

Coughing a bit, he asked, "Mistress? ….Are you alright? That rock nearly hit you."

"What rock?" asked Yusuke.

"The one from the pillar. It nearly hit her head and I blocked it."

"Look at his wing, Yusuke," Tiara gasped.

I don't know much about the anatomy of bird-lion-aliens but I'm pretty sure the first finger bone in a bat-like wing isn't supposed to almost be poking out of the skin. I could be wrong but it seems Tiara also noticed it.

The Brionian squawked pitifully when Tiara picked it up and I knew Lalo probably wouldn't be flying hardly if at all for the rest of this trip.

"Can you set it, Kurama?" asked Tiara.

He nodded and bent down beside them. Carefully he stretched out the alien's wing and added a bit of pressure until the bone clicked back into place. It was the sort of sound that made me want to grind my teeth so while Kurama was splinting the wing, I started back up the stairs.

"I'm going to go see what damage was done up here. When you're done with that, meet me back at Midas's throne."

Of course, Hiei didn't follow that order and together we made our way back to the first room which was now just a pile of dirt, rubble, and ruins since we had knocked down the central support pillar and the ceiling with it.

"When we first came in, there was another hall going to the right. Let's go check it out."

That hall led us up above the disaster area and we could now make out a hall on the other side of the room. After disposing of four bats, we made our way around the ruins, using pillars, grapple hoops, ropes, and ledges alike and collecting a couple medi-packs along the way before we reached the distant door.

We crept along the hall, anticipating another ambush and, after some time, we heard a grunt. Peeking around the corner, we only saw two gorillas and since we had the element of surprise, they weren't a problem. We were now on a walkway above the Midas room and level with another switch. This one opened the door behind Midas's head.

Our way down consisted of a fountain and when we reached the ground, we found our team coming out of the door on the opposite side of the room. When we joined them, to my surprised amusement, I saw Yusuke had Lalo cradled in one arm and the other around Tiara's shoulders.

We climbed the throne again and followed the hall beyond, a soft glow coming from around a corner led us to find a small bowl of fire lighting the way. In fact, there was a bowl around every corner until we entered the next room, which was rather gloomy looking with only a few bowls of fire lighting a ledge on either side of the room and a balcony in the distance. There was a ledge in front of us that extended a bit over the water that was separating us from a way over to the balcony where the lead bar was most likely to be and in front of that ledge was a squat, circular pillar with a small hole in the middle. There was also a pillar to the right of that which had many holes going around the walkway at the base. To the left, in the distance was a pillar that we couldn't reach with what looked like golden lion heads laid into its surface. There was another identical to the one on the left nearer to the balcony but we couldn't access it without its partner.

"There's a crocodile in the water," said Christy.

"Yeah and there's also another short pillar like this one underneath the water," I supplied.

"Maybe there's a switch to raise it up on one of the ledges?" she wondered.

"Maybe but we can't get up there. That block to the one on the left can only be reached by use of the pillar over there and we can't reach that."

"Wha' about th' one on th' right?" Tayg asked.

"It's too short. The ladder to the ledge has deteriorated over time and the top of the pillar is knocked off. I'm thinking that crocodile is guarding something essential."

"I'll take care o' it," said Tayg and took his pistols to the reptile lurking in the murky water.

Once it went belly up, Kurama, Hiei and I went to explore the water and found just the lever we were looking for on the bottom of the pillar on the right. It raised it up a few necessary feet and the puzzle was as good as solved. I climbed out and walked along the ledge toward the short pillar when the end abruptly gave a couple inches meaning it was a pressure pad and that triggered what would make this room a little more complicated.

The short pillar out in front spouted flame out of its hole, fire started circling around the base of the pillar on the right and the base of the farthest left pillar, and the golden lion heads on the two left pillars stated spitting flames every few seconds. I stepped back from the heat of the nearby stout pillar and stared at the room in surprise.

Our group was silent for a minute, all staring at the room in awe before Dusty excitedly claimed, "This one is mine!"

"What?" Tayg and I both protested, but Dusty stepped out onto the ledge to get a running start.

"Shut up, I'm going."

She really did well making her way over to the pillar on the right with the circling flames. I attributed her speed and agile jumps to her leopard half and she skillfully climbed cracks in the surface of the pillar caused by the heat. She pulled a switch on the nearby ledge which brought the second short pillar up out of the water and it, too, started spouting flame. She climbed back down and once the fire passed by, she jumped to the new pillar.

From the new pillar, she could reach the first of the pillars with the flaming lion heads and she had to time when she moved so her head didn't get burnt off. She was able to reach the block and the ladder up to the second switch (which raised the pillar nearest the balcony) and then she went back to climb to the top of the pillar. This was the hard part since she sometimes had to pass directly over the flaming heads but once she made it up and did the same with the second pillar, she could reach the balcony.

After collecting the second lead bar, she took the same route back to us. When she landed on the walkway in front of us, she smirked.

"That wasn't so hard."

"No, ye're just barbecuin' yer tail," said Tayg.

Dusty looked to her backside and saw one of her spots sizzling with fire. Apparently as she had crossed the short pillar out in front, she had stepped too close to the fire. She shrieked and began frantically patting the fur.

Tayg just stepped forward and pushed her backwards into the water. Dusty rose from the depths coughing and sputtering but the fire was successfully extinguished.

"Tayg!" she scowled as she climbed back up to us. "You're supposed to protect me, not try to drown me. At least give a girl some warning!"

"Well, now that Dusty has been burnt, drenched, and is officially pissed at Tayg, I think it's time for us to leave." I directed everyone back out to the main room where we took down two gorillas and left Tayg and Dusty up by Midas's head.

"You two can finish your lover's spat up here and then wrap Dusty's tail. We'll handle the last room."

Dusty gave me a dirty look but Tayg compliantly remained with the cranky leopard while we all climbed back down to the floor in search of the last switch. It happened to be on the right side of the room and we reached it with help from a fountain—a helpful crack had been concealed by some vines.

The switch opened the only door left and as we left the main room, I called up to the couple, "Be nice, Dusty." I had a feeling Dusty was mad about something other then being pushed into some water, but whatever it was, I was sure Tayg would take it all in stride.

The last hall took us to the armory of Midas's Palace, but it was anything but organized. All the spears and other weapons were kept in barrels in the ground and for some reason, they were near blocks. On the other side of the room was a door and this was where we went first. There was a set of stairs in here but they were cut off by a gate. Lucky for us, there was a switch hidden behind a box beside the stairs and we were allowed passage up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, we were given a view of the entire room and I realized that the blocks on the floor were pillars that would rise out of the floor since the lead bar was in an alcove across the room and there was no other way to reach it. There was a lever on the floor up here, though, and once it was pulled the blocks did indeed extend up into pillars. There were white pillars and slanted pillars and pillars with grates in the top that after they were fully extended, grew spikes. There were also paths that slid out of the walls. And for some reason I had a terrible feeling that this puzzle would be timed.

After diligently scrutinizing the room and plotting all possible routes over to the lead bar, I figured Hiei would have to be the one to do all the jumping since Dusty was gone.

"Alright, here's the best route. It's kind of like an 's' but I think it's the best series of jumps for not having powers anymore. Forward then left—careful of the spikes—and back-jump to the slant which will take you to the path. Keep moving right to the other side of the room with the paths and then travel left again until about the middle. You see that while pillar with the chink in the side? Jump from that one to the lead bar."

It's a good thing I liked to do Sudokus and other mind challenging puzzles at school. I didn't necessarily like math-related things but it sure helped with figuring out just how far Hiei could jump and what path he should take. In a matter of minutes, the third lead bar was ours.

* * *

~DUSTY'S POV~

"Well 'r' ye mad 'cause I got ye all wet?" Tayg asked.

"Nope," I answered shortly.

"Then wha', Dusty?" he asked, growing tired of getting the cold shoulder.

"You tell me. How come you've been ignoring me ever since I helped out in Damocles?" I demanded.

He gave me a blank stare for a second and then laughed a hearty Irish laugh. "Is tha' it then?" I raised my eyebrows, trying to figure out why that was funny. "I 'aven't been ignorin' ya, jus' waitin' fer th' right time. I've been thinkin' a lot 'bout how ye've been kinda growin' up more on this trip and it only makes me like ya more. I dinna think ye liked t' be open wi' these things." He grinned. "If ye wanted me t' kiss ye righ' in front o' ever'one ye should 'ave jus' said so."

"Oh, well, I…." I stumbled, looking up at the grinning fairy. "Shut up." He laughed again and took out a medi-pack to wrap my tail. As he wrapped up the scorched skin and smoothed the bandage, he occasionally bumped my butt, too.

"You're doing that on purpose," I accused.

"Nah, tha' was an accident. This is on purpose." He smacked my rump and plopped down, leaning against the back of the throne. I did, too, frowning and slouching enough that my tail wouldn't get squished up against the stone.

"Whadda ya wanna do now?" Tayg asked.

"I don't know. I'd ask you the same thing but I don't think you're used to thinking without alcohol in your system."

"At least I can hold my liquor."

"Hey!"

He grinned and I playfully punched his arm. He punched me back so I pushed him a bit and he pushed me back a little harder. I shoved him sideways and he pushed me completely onto my side. I sprung back up and tackled him to the ground, getting him in a headlock.

"Oh, what now?"

He laughed lightly from the lack of air he was getting and then reached around and pinched the inside of my thigh really hard.

"Ow!" My grip loosened and he flipped me over, twisting an arm behind my back. "Cheater!"

He had never stopped laughing, but now he did and released me so I could roll over underneath him.

"'S not cheating, lass. When ye're born in th' Makai, ya learn t' do wha'ever it takes t' survive."

"Why'd you get serious all of a sudden? We were having fun!"

He shrugged. "Le's start th' fun again then."

"Okay."

That's when I leaned up on my elbows and kissed him on the lips. He pulled me out from under himself and brought me closer, kissing more passionately until my new fangs got in the way and I accidentally bit his lip. From then on, he just kept to short smooches, teasing me like the evil little Irishman he was….

The sound of gorillas being slaughtered was the disappointing end to our fun time.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

As we entered the throne room again, we saw Dusty and her Guardian had climbed down to sit in Midas's lap. Faint traces of familiar smells were in the areas.

"Can you smell that?" I whispered to my Guardian.

"Hn."

"I guess they made up and then made out."

I grinned and waved them down to Midas's hand where Dusty, Hiei, and I each took our turns laying our lead bar on the hand to turn them to gold. Then we placed them in the empty spots around the bottom of the throne and the bars on the gate in the pool pulled back so that the gate would slide open.

Once again we were forced to navigate the underground tunnels looking for a place to surface into the next level. What we found was a small room with a box blocking a doorway. On the other side, a rat was squeaking for freedom but we took care of him. The box was used in the adjoining room to reach a switch which opened a trapdoor in the floor.

We disposed of two more rats in the room below and then we walked out into tall, square room—not nearly as tall as Saint Francis Folly but just as deadly. We were standing on a broken bridge and there was a revolving switch to our left. On the right side of the room was another broken walkway and the exit doorway. The only problem? We were separated from it by the vast emptiness of the room, the only point of interest being the pool far below. I already knew that this was The Cistern so we would have to raise and lower the water level according to what the puzzle required.

And, of course, there was another annoyance. An echoing Frenchman's voice laughed, "Don't worry, Lara. The water is quite refreshing."

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**A/N:** So then, I'll need **_at least_** one review before I'll update again. Also, I'm starting college classes again on Monday so I can't say for sure how often this story will be updated. I will try to make sure I have time to post one chapter a week, but I'm not making any promises. School sucks. Big time. But you guys already know that, I'm sure. Anyway....

Please Review!!

~Kateracks


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Kateracks does hereby decree that Chapter Thirteen be dedicated to **jasmine**. Thank you very much for your encouraging reviews. This is a very good chapter to have your name on, too. It's got some good action and plot points in it. :D I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

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**Chapter Thirteen—A Dark Resting Place**

"Can't see him," Yusuke stated. "When does he die?"

"I can't tell you for sure if he does anymore, let alone where." I shrugged and smiled apologetically.

"Damn, and I was looking so forward to killing the bastard myself," he said, walking out onto the broken bridge.

"Why do _you_ want to kill him?" I wondered.

"Well, for one, he tried to kill our leader and only chance of survival. And for two, he insulted the way of following your instincts. Following my instincts is the only way I've ever succeeded at anything."

"I can't believe he just said that with a straight face."

Kurama sighed from beside me. "Sadly, though, it's the truth."

Christy stared at her Guardian in uncertainty for a minute and then aired playing a drum set. "Doo-doo-doo, ch!"

"Hey!" Yusuke whined. "At least I can figure some stuff out! Like….if there's a turn switch thingy over there then we're supposed to use it for something important. Are we gonna turn it or what?"

"But there's also one down on the floor," Christy informed us.

Yusuke's shoulder slumped. "I was wrong again?"

"No, I think you're right, we will have to turn that," I reassured him and bent over to look beneath us. "But there are some crocodiles in the water and one over there and since it would be wise to dispose of any immediate threats first, we might as well turn the switch down there first."

"Wait, let me figure it out!" cried Kuwabara. _If I were him, I would be tired of just sitting around, too._ After squinting at the room from several angles, he pointed at the support to the bridge over by the turn switch Yusuke had mentioned. In as smart a manner as he could muster, he told us, "That pillar is broken in several areas. We will be able to find many places to hang onto in its surface so we can climb down."

"Well done, Clueless," I said while patting him on the back. "Just for that, you can lead the group down to the switch."

"Hn, and where are you going?" asked Hiei.

"The platform that used to be on the right caved in, but there's some supplies over there. It requires a grapple so I'll meet you on the ground."

While they were climbing down, I ran along the wall to my target and then jumped backwards to the path that used to be connected to the platform. Laying on its surface was a set of ammo clips that I had never seen before. The engraving in the metal read _Mini SMG_, but even I didn't know what that was. In the pocket created by the collapse of the platform were some shotgun shells and from there I could drop down to a pile of debris and then the ground.

Tayg and Dusty had been picking away at the crocodiles in the water and so I gave the shotgun shells to her and then we turned the switch. The water in the pool drained completely revealing four things in the bottom forming the shape of a diamond. Once we climbed into the bottom, we could see that the right and left things were grates—the one on the right had a wooden platform inside and the one on the left had another box of shotgun shells. Instead of bothering to find what opened that one, Yusuke just reached inside to claim his prize. The top and bottom of the diamond were pressure pads.

Kuwabara strutted to the bottom one while Christy, who also wanted to do something helpful, limped over to the top one. The one Kuwabara stepped on lowered a gate on the right side of the pool which had no purpose as far as I could tell. The one Christy stood on opened the grate containing the wooden platform.

"That was easy," said Christy, but once she stepped off, the grate slammed shut again.

"Nothing's ever easy for us," said Yusuke as he absently stroked Lalo's head. Then he realized he was doing it and quickly switched to scratching his own head. "So where is that wooden thing supposed to go?"

"I'm guessing over by the exit since we couldn't reach it from the pathway," I surmised.

Kuwabara looked at the exit far above us. "We can't get it up there."

"Honestly, Kuwabara," sighed Dusty. "You have a brief shining moment and then—"

"That's why we can change the water level," interrupted Tiara. "It will float."

"Cool, now I can just sit here and still be useful," said Christy and took a seat on the pressure pad.

Kurama chuckled. "No, you can't. Even if you wanted to, the water would make you float, too." Christy mumbled, "Oh yeah," and dropped her head. "I did notice a box up by the rotating switch, but it was on the next platform over and the bridge over to it is broken."

"Well, there's got to be some way to get to it. I'll go check it out."

But, as usual, I wouldn't be going alone since Hiei followed me around like a lost puppy. ….A very pissed off puppy with a grudging step.

We climbed back up the same way our team had reached the ground and found that the only way to get to the box Kurama had mentioned was a _very_ round-about way, meaning we had to go completely around the room in order to go next door. Luckily, there was a second box along the way.

"Alright, so it looks like the only way to get over there is to use my grapple like I did before, but I think there's a second hook that I didn't see before," I informed Hiei. "You can just hang out here because I'll need your help to turn the switch when I come back."

It occurred to me as I was gaining an adrenaline rush while crossing the room just how bored Hiei must have been with being my Guardian. Since I was the main leader and many of the puzzles involved me (and because I liked to be more independent now that I had my new legs), he didn't get much of a chance to protect me. On the other hand, if I was the same as I was in the real world, he would be sick of being my Guardian by now.

I reached the walkway that went underneath our exit and over to the opposite wall of the room and spared a glance at him. He was leaning against the switch like he didn't care one way or another and following my every move with his usual indifferent gaze. It then occurred to me that he truly was handsome even if he was dirty and sweaty….and then it occurred to me that I should get him near a shower soon.

I quickly ceased that line of thought before he got any ideas of what I might be thinking and I busied myself with performing some gymnastic flips over two poles to reach the first of the two boxes. Kurama had trailed after me on the ground and took down another crocodile while I worked to push the box over the ledge. He then pushed it into the drained pool so they could position it on Christy's pressure pad while I continued over some more poles to the next box next door to the switch where Hiei was.

After the second box was sent down to where Tayg could push it into the pool, I jumped over the gap in the bridge to return to Hiei. (Since I was on the higher part of the bridge, I could reach the lower portion, but we couldn't use it to get _up_ to the box.)

The second box was positioned on the pressure pad where Kuwabara stood, but I was still confused as to what good that gate did when it was open.

"Now, see? I don't get that," I said to Hiei and then called down to my foxy friend. "Kurama, what's with the gate?"

He looked to the gate and considered the puzzle for a few seconds before explaining, "If the water level rises and the platform stays here, it will be much too far from the exit. We'll have to pull it into that area so it will be more accessible."

Dusty and Tiara climbed out of the pool to turn the first switch which filled the pool again. The rest of our troop just remained in the water and rode the current and then Yusuke helped Kurama maneuver the platform into the formerly fenced off area. Hiei and I went back and turned our switch and then we met the rest of the team over by the exit.

The small conjoining room only had a pool in it being filled by three bearded heads spewing water. Once we dove in, however, a current immediately seized us and propelled us down a hall which gradually grew narrower and then shot us out into an underground cave. The way out of the cave was in the right corner of the pool, but Yusuke had to snag some shotgun shells off the shore before we swam through.

Where we resurfaced was a shock to me. We were in front of a stone building with two centaur statues guarding the closed gate.

"I didn't expect to end up here," I muttered.

"What, you don't know this place?" Kuwabara asked.

"No, I know it. This is the Tomb of Tihocan, but they must have combined it with the level that was The Cistern because there was no puzzle to get here."

"The gate is closed," said Tiara. "Maybe that's the puzzle."

"No, there should be a tunnel under the tomb somewhere with a switch that will open it."

I dove under the water and found the tunnel exactly where I expected it to be and all that was in it was a switch. I was a little disappointed that the levels were combined, but at least it cut down some of the time we would spend in this universe. When I surfaced again, my team was on the foregrounds of the gate, wringing out clothes and looking utterly sick of swimming.

I slowly led them up to the entrance of the tomb, wary of the creepy statues guarding either side. I felt like they were watching us but neither one moved at all. I had expected them to because they had come alive in the last game to prevent me from entering the tomb so it was eerie when they didn't.

Inside we moved right and weaved through some red pillars and up some steps to view the second piece of the Scion and a sarcophagus.

"Another piece of the Scion?" Kuwabara wondered. "How many are there?"

"Three," I answered.

"Where's the last one?" Yusuke asked.

"In The Sanctuary of the Scion. Kurama, here's some more hieroglyphics. Can you read what these say?"

He stepped up beside me as the rest of our team of inexperienced tomb raiders surrounded the sarcophagus. He gently ran the pads of his fingers over the carvings, removing a bit of dust as he began to read.

"_Here lies the God-King Tihocan; one of the Triumvirate; Keepers of the three pieces of the Scion; Leader of the Chosen after the Great Betrayal caused Atlantis to be lost beneath the waves._"

I cocked my brow at this and then bent to brace my hands against the lid of the sarcophagus, preparing to open it.

"Katie, what are you doing?" Tiara asked.

"I just want to see what this one looks like," I replied, pushing against the hard stone.

"But don't you remember what happened last time you looked too closely at one of these God-King guys?" Dusty asked.

"Yes," I grunted. "But I don't see any mummy guards, do you? I never got to see Tihocan in the last game."

She shrugged. "Well, just let me get on the other side in case he decides to come alive and jump out."

Everyone else seemed to feel the same way and backed up as I finally got the lid to crack open. Once the seal was broken, it was much easier to open a bigger space. Smiling in satisfaction, I peered inside….

There was no body.

"Um…." said Christy.

And then a gun cocked and a barrel was held to the back of my head.

"You see?" spoke that ever annoying Frenchman. "Instincts can be expensive, mademoiselle. Yours are going to cost you both pieces of the Scion."

I frowned down at the sarcophagus, pissed off that I had once again neglected to sense him behind me. "That's not a price I'm prepared to pay."

His voice showed a bit of astonishment. "Don't be absurd. No job is worth dying for."

_You have no idea what would happen if I gave this piece to you._ "Yes. It is."

I heard the creak of his leather glove as his finger tightened on the trigger and that's when I ducked, the shot ringing in my ears as it ricocheted off the wall behind me and I spun around to punch the bearded loser right in the jaw. Too bad for me, it wasn't strong enough to knock him off his feet and I found myself having to flip to the side and then dive back as he shot several more bullets at me.

I got close enough that I could grab his wrist so he couldn't move to shoot me again and it gave me enough leeway to turn and get him in the face again, this time with my elbow. He cracked off another shot wildly as he stumbled backwards, making my ears ring again. I sprang backwards and joined my team behind the sarcophagus as some more shots sailed after me. Grabbing my guns, I peeked over the top just in time to see Pierre run out of bullets and dodge behind a pillar, running toward the entrance.

_So that's how they come to life._ I got up and ran off after him.

"Kat?" Yusuke called after me.

"Stay here!" I yelled over my shoulder as I swerved around the doorway.

"What?" he shouted back as I arrived on the scene just in time to see one centaur try to trample Pierre and him escape the deadly hooves only to be stopped as the other threw a handful of fire at him.

He stopped moving and the centaurs slowly advanced onto him. Staring up at the foreign beasts and then looking at the object from the same culture in his hands, he realized what they were after.

"On second thought," he said uneasily as he saw me the doorway. "You have it!"

He chucked the glowing artifact to me and the centaurs' heads whipped in my direction as I, for once in my life, caught something without dropping it.

Pierre smiled nervously and gave me a small wave. "Bon chance."

Bad idea. The centaurs' attention was brought back to the Frenchman and before he could even blink, they had reared up and crashed down on top of him with their destructive hooves. His dying screams brought my team running and I descended the steps to the tomb and prepared to fight when the creatures directed their focus back onto me.

A protective wall of fire blazed up in front of the tomb door, separating my team from aiding in my fight, but one of my teammates had stepped just one stair too far.

A frightened whimper behind me caused me to turn and meet the sight of Tiara staring wide-eyed at the centaur twins.

One centaur charged her and she ran to the side, but was stopped by a fireball from the other. I tried to run toward her to provide some cover, but I was also stopped by a fireball. She looked to me for help as the two creatures started circling us, but I was looking to where Yusuke was jumping up and down behind the flame wall.

That gave me an idea and I yelled to Tiara, "Stay close to the tomb! The centaurs won't harm something sacred!"

She nodded and ran past one centaur and around the corner of the stairs leading to the entrance. The centaurs didn't bother to go after her since I was the one with my hands on the Scion. I waited for an opening in their barrage of fireballs and then sprinted over toward the water surrounding the foregrounds. No sooner had I dropped in and swam a few feet from the ground did a fireball barely miss my face and sink into the water in front of me.

_Right. It's magical fire. _

I began to wish I had noticed these kinds of things sooner as I was all, but trapped while swimming back to the shore. Fire collided with the water near me and flipped me sideways and then another handful of fire met my arm, crisping the flesh instantly.

I crawled back onto the ground just as another ball of fire connected with my leg and a centaur charged toward me. With no time to spare, I dove to the side and fired a stream of bullets at the passing creature. However, the bullets merely bounced off of the skin and hit the ground uselessly. Again I had to roll sideways as the other centaur ran toward me and I shot at it, too. This only succeeded in making them mad.

Meeting in the middle of the fighting area, the twin centaurs reared up and seemed to be laughing at me as their eyes began to glow and I was encompassed in a beautiful green light. I almost felt at ease and stumbled forward a step further into the beam, wanting to indulge further in that magnificent light. It was like a warm blanket of comfort wrapping around me and shielding me from the depressing cold of the surrounding tomb and I wanted more of it.

Something rammed into my side and I was thrown out of my trance when I hit the hard ground. As I shook off the blow to my head, an unfamiliar sound met my ears of something heavy falling to the ground behind me. Like a rock….or a body.

_Or a body of rock_, I realized with horror when I turned around and found a life-size statue of Tiara standing where I used to be, a petrified look on her frozen, stone face.

"Tiara!"

The centaurs began circling us again and hurling fireballs. One struck the ground just in front of my friend and a chip broke off of her surface and fell to the ground. In shocked fury, I was about to run after the strange monsters and attack with everything I had (whether it did any good or not), but then more chips began to break off of the rock surface. I could have sworn I saw a change in Tiara's expression and a bit of skin was showing on her hand. She was trying to break free!

With a bit of hesitation, I took a hold of her arm and gently began to shake it, breaking more pieces of the stone covering off of her. One centaur noticed this and charged so I hastily began shaking her harder, scattering fragments of stone everywhere until she was finally free and sank to the ground gasping for air.

The centaur reared up in front of us and, with my guns rendered useless, I did the only thing I could think of. I slid under it's wildly thrashing front hooves and kicked as hard as I could at one of its back legs. The overgrown horse toppled over backwards, breaking the ground beneath it and distracting its partner enough that I could help Tiara closer to the tomb.

"Are you alright?" I asked as she choked on fresh air.

"I will be. That green beam is like the gaze of Medusa—if you stare into it, you'll be turned to stone."

"Yeah, I noticed that."

"But what you didn't notice was that there's a ring on the back of the centaurs' shields. The surface of those shields are like mirrors. Do you remember how Yusuke defeated Hiei the first time they fought?"

"Yeah, Yusuke reflected his shot off of the Forlorn Hope to hit Hiei's back—his weak point."

She nodded. "The weak point is their heads; it's the only part of them that's actually protected by armor."

I stood up. "Okay, I'll try."

She grabbed my wrist. "Wait, I want to help, too. Right now those centaurs are toying with us because they don't think we can win. But if you get the upper hand on one, the other will come to the rescue."

I tugged her up from the ground. "Think you can imitate my dodge-roll?"

"Yours? Probably not; I'd dislocate a shoulder jumping sideways like that. But I bet I could do a somersault form of it."

"Alright, you get the left one. Ready? Go!"

We veered off from each other and I antagonized my target enough that it charged me again. Right as I would have been trampled, I leapt sideways and brought my guns up. My adrenaline made everything appear to go in slow motion as I aimed toward the centaur's helmet and squeezed the trigger.

The impact of the bullet to the protective metal was enough to stun it for a second but a second was all I needed to latch my grapple onto the ring and jerk the shield from the centaur's hand.

Tiara met me in the center of the battlefield and we switched targets. If the other centaur still had its shield, it would be able to reflect the beam back at us. Using the same process as before, the second centaur was soon left without any protection and Tiara and I both had some.

I provoked one enough that it tried the Medusa Gaze trick again and we grabbed our shields. The green beam bounced off of the slick surface and trapped its source in the enticing green light, turning it to stone.

The second centaur didn't like this one bit and chased Tiara around while I started pelting away at its partner. Unfortunately, .50 caliber pistols can only do so much damage to stone. However, luckily for me, Tiara had led the twin centaur back my direction.

"Katie! Stop, drop, and roll!"

I followed instructions and Tiara did likewise, rolling under the legs of the centaur statue as the mobile centaur wheeled around and kicked its legs back at her, missed, and shattered its partner.

Tiara and I laughed and high-fived while we followed the other centaur around the battlefield until it tried the same trick and created its own demise. I blasted away at the statue while Tiara spun around in circles with the shields and then threw them at the statue, splintering pieces off of the sculpture. I laughed again in amusement and relief that she was already back to her old self.

Finally the statue was reduced to nothing but a pile of dust. The fire wall which had been dwindling since the destruction of the first centaur now vanished completely and our team ran to check up on us. Too bad I had to turn around and catch sight of the battered and bloodied corpse of Pierre.

My smile faded and disgust welled up in my stomach. Hiei noticed the sudden change in the air, but unsure of what to do, only thrust his hand into my backpack and retrieved the two pieces of the Scion. Turning me away from the sight, he held the pieces up to my face.

"Well? How do these go together?"

I sighed. "I don't know. The structure of it is different than in the last game. Kurama, want to do the honors?"

I set the two pieces in his hand and he examined them for a couple minutes before he set the second piece on top of the first, hooking some pins in the middle and then turning so the two pieces connected.

My hand moved of its own accord and I was drawn to the glowing artifact. Christy and Hiei were given the same fate and then it looked like the floor dropped out from under us. (The others later told me that we had actually risen up in the air with dreamy looks on our faces.)

We were free falling through a lightning filled sky for several minutes before we suddenly stopped and hovered above the Scion. All three pieces were connected, but as we floated looking at it, it then separated into the three individual pieces.

Then we were hanging in the air in the midst of three kingly individuals. They all wore crowns, but two of the kings stood before the third, who was on their knees. I couldn't see the face.

The first king to speak was a male with a flowing yellow and black cape and spikes protruding from his back. He was very angry.

"You have tainted the power of the Scion and betrayed your fellow kings. You have broken the sacred Triumvirate of Atlantis. You have _maimed_ Qualopec—your own _brother_!"

He pointed at the second kingly figure and I never would have guessed it was Qualopec since it was just a torso, but the spider legs did look familiar. Perhaps he had received prosthetic legs later?

Qualopec leaned in and hissed in a robotic voice, "I'm still here, wretch. Tihocan has ended your treachery, but it is _my_ face you will see in your nightmares."

Tihocan spoke again, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The figure on their knees raised their head a bit and then bowed it again as they prepared to answer. We never got to hear them speak as we began falling alongside one piece of the Scion. Our descent paused briefly in front of an entrance to a tomb in which the piece of the Scion disappeared from sight. We then found ourselves falling to the ground outside Tihocan's tomb along with the two connected pieces of the Scion.

I lay on my back for a while, analyzing the picture in my mind of where the final piece of the Scion was hidden. _Where _was_ The Sanctuary of the Scion?_

Eventually, Hiei hauled me to my feet and Tayg asked, "Wha' 'appened?"

"We saw a short history of the Scion," I responded, rubbing my hip.

"So?" prodded Yusuke. "Where's the last piece?"

I smiled. "Egypt."

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**A/N:** Alright, I'm going to try something new this chapter. I would like to get **two reviews** before I update again. The next chapter is also a very good one with some action and comedy in it. It would be neat to have your name on that one. I hope you enjoyed it! Even if you didn't like it all that much, go ahead and tell me what I can improve on.

Please Review!!

~Kateracks


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** (Sigh) I guess two whole reviews was too much to ask. Oh well, the truth ism, I love this story and I hate not updating it regularly. So as long as I have one person who I know for sure is enjoying this, I will just update no matter how many reviews I get.

This chapter is dedicated to **jasmine**. Thanks for sending me another review! :D

**Disclaimer:**I don't own anything. Not even this hot chocolate that I'm drinking because I don't know where it came from. It just sort of....apppeared in my cupboard. Creepy.

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**Chapter Fourteen—Into The Light**

Our five dirt bikes roared to a stop in front of the cracked stone door to the structure out in the middle of the desert. It wasn't long before we had forced our way inside and were following a dirt path that soon led up to a hole in what used to be a wall. The new room was a disaster waiting to happen with the crumbling walls and old pillars that were barely providing support anymore. Two pillars in front of us weren't even attached to the ceiling and we began our climb to the only exit by first pulling these two down.

To the left, hidden in a hole in the wall, was a heavy block and behind that was a medi-pack. From atop this block, we climbed up onto a portion of one of the pillars and then used cracks and ledges to climb over where we entered and around to the other side of the room where we then climbed higher to the exit.

The next hall revealed to us what would be one of the main features of the tombs while we were in Egypt (although we didn't know it at the time). A metal model of a scarab with wings was sitting suspiciously on a bare wall that went up to the next level of the hallway. After planning to use it as a ladder and climbing on, however, we discovered that it was on a slider and if we didn't scramble up its surface quick enough, we would be too far down to reach our objective. Once discovering this, though, it wasn't that difficult to get past and also navigate the next hole with another scarab model.

After rounding a corner and catching a view of where we would be going next, Yusuke asked, "So where are we again?"

I took a moment to catch sight of all the improvements they made to this level before I gave out my answer. Built into the walls of the room were huge buildings overlooking the square where palm trees were sprouted in various places, giving the broken pillars that used to hold walkways an almost decorative look. These pillars were surrounding a small sphinx which had its eyes trained on a pool in front of it, the water glistening in the morning sunlight shining down through the open roof. Green lily pads brought some color to the bland stone obelisk standing in the center of the pool. It was actually a nice change and the light gave off a feeling of comfort.

"We're at the beginning of The Temple of Khamoon," I finally answered. "You may have noticed that about the time we arrived at The Tomb of Tihocan, Tomb Raider took a diabolical turn?" They nodded and murmured their agreement, thinking back to the new powers given to the centaurs. "Well, from here on out, all the levels enforce that. The traps are cruelly placed and the combat fast and furious. Some of the puzzles are almost impossible to figure out unless you have a psychic ability and, unfortunately for us, Hiei's Jagan Eye has been sealed shut. But you do have a game freak which is just as good. As soon as we make it past The Obelisk of Khamoon, another piece of the Scion is as good as ours."

"What exactly arrr—RRAAH!!"

I'm sure Christy's question was supposed to be either _What are we up against?_ or _What are we looking for?_ but she had ventured too close to the small entrance room to the Temple and slid down a slope that brought her into a panther's jaws. Her reflexes kicked in, and before she had even reached the bottom of the slope, that cat was in two pieces on the ground.

She stumbled sideways onto a pile of human bones and accidentally found some shotgun shells for Yusuke and Dusty. Laughing at her changing expressions of disgust and slight pride, I climbed up onto the "window" (really a gaping hole in the wall) through which I had gazed upon the Temple earlier. There was a slope on the other side of this and I rode it down into the Temple so I could bask in the sunlight.

I was temporarily blinded by the bright rays and could only fuzzily make out the obelisk on my right. I could also barely make out a figure standing in front of a door between the sphinx's paws across from me. After allowing my eyes to adjust for a few seconds, I recognized this figure to be a mummy like the ones we had seen in Qualopec's tomb. Also like those, this one had its arms crossed and wasn't moving.

A bit confused, I looked around some more and found that there was another sphinx to my right, but its splendor was ruined when I caught sight of its broken face. It was from this direction that I heard hissing breath and I took a step forward to peek around a palm tree. Sniffing around in the shadows was another mummy with its back to me.

Nervous about being so close, I retreated a few steps and then felt a steadying hand on my shoulder. Apparently Hiei had followed me, but I had not heard him enter.

With a confused snort as it picked up on new scents, the mummy turned around and looked us over with its yellow eyes. About the time that I thought it was friendly was when it opened it's massive saber-toothed jaws and roared at us, bringing its partner at the other sphinx to life. And boy can those things move!

Hiei was the first to draw blood, ducking under a fireball (I didn't know the mummies could do _that_!) and lopping off the head of the charging Atlantean. The other that had surprised me came chasing after me, bounding on all fours like a dog.

"Just like the centaurs," Hiei called as I ran past him.

_Just like the centaurs?_Then I realized that he meant their head was the best spot to target and so I once again put my adrenaline to good use, running back toward the Atlantean and then dodging sideways so I could blast it in the head. It did a complete flip and then lay still.

"That was scary," said Christy as the rest of the team slid in.

"Scarier than that panther?" I grinned. "What exactly arrr—RRAAH!"

"Shut up, Kat. Ya big ol' butthole!"

"You're a big ol' butthole, ya fruity nut ball!"

"You eat cat poop!"

"No, Christy Wilson, you eat cat poop!"

"Oh my," sighed Kurama and pulled his charge aside. "Christy, love, why don't you go examine that obelisk for us? It looks as though it has some engravings on it." Christy nodded in a false grudging manner and then walked over to the objective. "Kat, you should climb up above the door. There's a target there. Perhaps if you both behave we'll get you a treat later."

I stuck my tongue out at the fox and turned toward the door, trying to find a way up the twenty feet to its top. A pillar to the left of the sphinx was leaning toward a second pillar which was near a ledge in the corner. I used these to reach the target Kurama had mentioned. Once a bullet connected with the bullseye, a pole shot out of a hole in the wall and I swung across to another portion of the walkway. This was where I noticed that the walkway broke off completely until the right side of the sphinx's head.

I hate taking the long way. But it wasn't all that long anyway once I reached the head of the sphinx with the broken face. From there it was just a matter of aiming correctly with my grapple so that I could run along the walls to reach the remaining section of the walkway.

There was a ledge behind the sphinx's head which served the purpose of actually letting me see the back of the big cat's noggin so I could find a switch. This ground open the door that was between the statues paws and I hurried back to where my group was waiting for me.

The walls inside were lined with pictures of jackal-men carrying trays of various objects and these eventually led us out into a long room with three massive pharaoh statues on each wall. There were two gates on the end where we were—one in front of us and one to the left, both of which were adorned with the scarab designs.

"Are scarabs going to be an issue in this level?" Kurama inquired of me.

I hadn't though of that. "God, I hope not! I don't want any flesh-eating beetles crawling on me!"

"Eek!"

We all either screamed or jumped when Tiara shrieked, having peeked into the gate on the left, and almost had her face taken off by a panther paw. Luckily for her, her Guardian was paying attention this time and pulled her away.

"Don't do that!" whined Christy.

"Or calm down jus' yet," said Tayg and drew his guns. A third gate on the other end of the room was open and had released two panthers for us. They weren't a problem.

Down by their chamber was a switch which, once pulled, caused the pharaoh statues to slide further out of the walls and the other two gates were raised. We killed the other cats and then I sent Tiara and Yusuke to check out the other chambers while Kurama and I concentrated on the puzzle.

"The exit is here," began Kurama, pointing to our left. "But it's too high for any of us to jump to."

"So it's got to have something to do with the statues. Keep your eye on them and find out what their pattern is for sinking back into the wall. I'll study the options around the room."

The masonry underneath the exit was falling apart and had sufficient cracks for climbing but those also started in a place that was too high to jump to. However, there was also a hook near the ceiling on the opposite wall, there were some cracks near that, and the scarab gate looked like it could be of some assistance.

"I think our only option would be to start at the other end of the room," Kurama explained. "The statues will stay out long enough for us to run down there and work our way back here. I believe there was a portion of the wall that fell to the ground at that end which would allow us to climb onto the trays the pharaohs are holding."

"Only I can go because reaching the exit requires a grapple. Once I'm up there, I can let the line down to help you guys up."

Kurama nodded to this. "From that end you'll need to start on the right side and jump to the middle statue's tray. Then cross over to the left middle tray and jump to the end one. From there, you should be high enough to start your path to the exit."

That was the plan and I stuck to it. It wasn't long before we were continuing on our way, soon sliding down into a hole in the pathway and taking care of some rats. While we were down there, Tiara added two more medi-packs to one she had found in the panther chambers. Yusuke discovered another heavy stone block that we could use to climb out the other side of the pit since it was fairly demolished.

A second hole in the pathway stood between us and a large cave room with a cat shrine in one end. It looked as though the cave had been tunneled out and all the architecture was carved directly from the cave walls. In front of the cat shrine was a pool, littered with lily pads and surrounded by obelisks.

Once on the ground, we were confronted by crocodiles, but theses weren't much of a challenge for Christy's and Kurama's whips. There was nothing else of interest in the room for a doorway about twenty-five feet off the ground so we searched the shrine first. The only way out was a hole in the bottom of the pool.

There was a lever in the underwater tunnel there which caused a gate at the left end of the tunnel to screech open. It didn't stay open for long, though, and it nearly squished Kuwabara as he was the last to squeeze through. We surfaced in the room on the other side and found it to be empty except for a walkway in the center of the pool and a scarab slider on the wall in front of us.

Dusty was the first to use the slider and reached a walkway above us, which was divided by a section that had broken out of it. However, as soon as she climbed onto this walkway, it split in the middle and both halves began to slide back into the walls. Not knowing what else to do, she simply jumped back onto the walkway where the rest of us waited.

"I hate timed traps!" I complained as I watched the walkway come back together.

"Luckily for you, there's only enough time for one person to make it across," said Kurama.

"I guess I'll go since I already started it," said Dusty. "It only moves apart when a certain weight is on it. Maybe I can trick it by climbing one of the cracks on the wall until it comes back out."

She once again climbed up to the walkway and sprinted across the room, hopping the widening gap in the middle and then jumped up to a crack where she hung on until the walkway returned to its original position. She then pushed off of the wall and ran back down the other side of the walkway where there was another scarab slider at the end. I noticed then that there was an outcropping above and to the right of that and that's where Dusty was headed.

We waited about ten minutes for her return when suddenly a ledge above the walkway we rested under slid back into the wall and a heavy stone block fell onto the walkway. Dusty reappeared a second later at the opening of the outcropping.

She called down to us, "I need to get some new shoes. These are right for doing spire jumps." She then looked to the block that had fallen onto the walkway. "I'm not going to try and race the timer to push that across the gap, get somebody else up here to do it."

Tayg shrugged and followed after his charge, but this time when he grabbed the walkway, it didn't start receding into the wall, meaning that the heavy block must have been enough weight to offset the puzzle. Dusty also dropped down to the walkway and together they pushed the block to the opposite end while the rest of us climbed up.

I could then see that Dusty had discovered there was another ledge like the one the stone block had been sitting on and from there it was easy to reach a ledge above the outcropping she had gone into. On the ceiling of the room was a set of trap doors and there was another door on the right wall.

"Hiei, you're with me," I said and climbed onto the block. "The rest of you just hang out until we figure out what this is all about."

We climbed up to the highest ledge with the help of cracks, flesh-eating beetles, and a pole and once we were there, we could see two handles on the trap doors that formed a ring. The door on the wall also had a ring on it and I latched onto this first. Hiei helped me pull the door down and then I jumped out and hooked onto the trap doors, swinging over and sliding down the surface as the door rose up again. There was a switch inside there which brought the door down again and opened the trap doors.

"Come on up, guys! You can reach this door from that crack right there."

The small chamber above the trap doors had another switch and opened up into the cat shrine room. The switch dropped the blue flooring beneath the cat statue and two more crocodiles awaited our decent back to the floor.

The hall beneath the cat statue opened up into a room with a support pillar in the center. A platform wrapped around the middle of this support pillar and created a bridge to the exit of this room. As we entered, a panther waited for us on the floor and when we dropped down, three more ran out from a chamber on the left. There was also a chamber on the other side with a switch beside it and two more panthers waiting inside.

After collecting a medi-pack in the left chamber, we pulled the switch and took down the panthers. Then, climbing some ledges to the left of the chamber, we grabbed onto the gate and jumped backwards to the pillar which had some chips in the carvings. For whatever reason, there was a rotating ledge and after weight was thrown onto it, it turned into the side of the pillar, but allowed us to jump back over to the wall with the gate and climb up to where we could jump to the platform.

Kurama, Dusty, and I crossed the bridge to take care of any trouble (it only turned out to be a panther), and then found ourselves in a large but completely empty room. There was an exit on the front wall but it was too high to get to and there was a ladder in an alcove on the right wall.

"What do you suppose that does?"

I looked back at Kurama and followed his gaze up to the ceiling where there was four tiles in a cluster as if they were another set of trap doors. I shrugged and climbed the ladder while Dusty and Kurama waited for the rest of our team to arrive.

As I crawled into the room above, I spotted what I was sure was the solution to the next puzzle. There was a large design of a winged scarab holding a golden circle above its head. There was a pole welded into each of its wings and on the left wing, a weight was attached. Unfortunately, the weight for the other wing was laying on the ground. It didn't matter for the moment since we would first have to find a way to remove two other poles that would prevent the scarab from sliding up to connect its golden circle with the rest of the design.

I took a step toward the door in search of more clues and then something clubbed me over the head.

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

"Kurama, I'm getting old," the fox's charge whimpered as she limped into the next room.

Kurama chuckled at this. "You're getting old? Why do you say that?"

"She popped her hip climbing up here," snickered the detective, following close behind her in case she suddenly fell over again.

"You might as well keep getting older, Christy," said the leopard. "You've got a lot of catching up to do if you're going to be as old as Kurama."

Something felt wrong and as I scanned our surroundings, I discovered what it was. "Where is my charge?"

Kurama also looked the room over and then shrugged. "I suppose she went to examine the room above." He gestured to a ladder and then my heart dropped into my stomach, so to speak. Shorty yelled from the room above us and that was followed by a roar from what I was certain was an Atlantean mummy.

Kurama's gaze met mine in worry and then I found myself scaling the ladder before I had even thought about it. When I reached the top, I saw Shorty being pinned against the wall by what I had predicted—a mummy—and it was glaring hungrily down at her small, vulnerable form.

* * *

~A FEW MINUTES EARLIER/MY POV~

When I was clubbed over the head, I had fallen sideways and caught sight of my attacker—a mummy. It roared and swiped at me, but I rolled sideways and to my feet to check my abdomen. I had felt the claws connect but it was only with my belt buckle, leaving deep gashes in the metal and when I rolled, the latch had been jarred so that my holsters fell off when I stood up.

It was only a second later that I found myself being chucked into the wall near the scarab with a hungry Atlantean bounding after me and I had no defense. Before I was pinned to the wall, I reached down and jerked my knife from my boot, hoping that I would be able to stab the thing to death—or at least until I could reach my guns.

Too bad I was much shorter than the freak and so when I sliced at it, all it had to do was lean back slightly to evade the attack. Then it reared back and plunged down on my torso, tearing through both the aqua shirt I had taken from Lara's house and my skin.

I tried to scream but my throat closed up and it was all I could do just to bring my knife down on its arm before my entire body went limp. The mummy roared again and punched me across the face, throwing my head to the side and leaving my neck in plain sight.

The Atlantean seemed to grin and launched its face down toward the deadly area. I felt the skin break but nothing being removed or my life draining away. I opened my eyes, not knowing I had closed them and saw the ugly head gone and Hiei standing behind the body—katana out like he had just finished a swipe, which he probably had. Then pain blurred my vision and I blacked out.

* * *

~A FEW SECONDS EARLIER/HIEI'S POV~

I stood stunned for a moment, but a moment was all it took for the Atlantean to rip open her stomach. Now furious, I drew my katana and ran across the space between us, taking off its head right as it broke the skin over Shorty's windpipe.

She opened her eyes, squinted at me, and fell into unconsciousness with a possible ghost of a smile at seeing I had saved her. The body then stumbled back, dropping the onna to the ground as its arm fell to its side and then the whole carcass toppled over.

Then I was suddenly surrounded by the women of our team, all babbling worriedly and grinding on my nerves.

"You could do something useful instead of just standing there like brainless morons!" I growled.

"Hiei," Kurama scolded as if my charge wasn't unconscious and bleeding to death. He took her from my arms and turned to the females. "I will coach you three, but I think Kat would like it better if _you_ bandaged her chest."

The wolf turned to the remaining males and pointed toward the ladder we had just climbed up. "Get out of here and leave!"

"Get out and then leave?" the oaf repeated.

"Crap! You know what I mean!" she shouted unnecessarily since we had already began climbing down the ladder.

I leaned against the wall at the bottom and listened to the frantic girls, Kurama's calm coaching, and Shorty's whimpers until they told us we could return. Instead of a shirt, my charge's top half was covered in bandages—adequately wrapped for no medical experience whatsoever.

Shorty's ears were folded back in agony and she was shaking as if she were cold, but it was more than likely from loss of blood. Kurama used the empty medical kits and half of a roll of bandages to make a small fire with a lighter the detective had.

I sat next to the fox and near Shorty, watching the fire and occasionally checking on her to make sure she was still breathing. After some time she whined and called out "Hiei!" in her restless sleep. She coughed and blood spilled out of her mouth, prompting me to gently bring her into my lap so she wouldn't suffocate herself.

And then she was suddenly awake. She dizzily gazed down at herself and asked no in particular, "Why is my shirt off? ….Why am I covered in blood again?" She slowly raised her head up to look at me. "And why am I in your lap? Did I miss something fun?"

"No," I answered irately.

"M'kay." She dozed off again, nuzzling into my warm body. I shook my head and leaned back against the wall to rest.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

Thank goodness for the healing capabilities of youkai! We only stayed there for, I think, a week and a half, although I couldn't say for sure how long since I was sleeping a lot. Healing, the wounds hurt more than when I got them and I preferred to sleep through the pain than stay awake complaining and piss Hiei off further.

The night before the day when we left, the rest of the group had gone over to another ladder that branched off of our current location and explore the next room, which happened to be the room with all the pharaoh statues, only we were above them now. Our team had decided to stay there and discuss things because Hiei and I were both on the snappish side.

I inhaled sharply when another wave of pain traveled up from my stomach and I moaned, doubling over in my sitting position and my breath quickening. This woke Hiei, who had fallen asleep beside me while he was telling me stories about the missions the Reikai Tentai had been sent on.

When I looked up at him, I was sure I saw concern flicker in his eyes, but I told myself that if that was true then it was just because he wanted me to be in once piece when we got back to Koenma; although, a small part of me wanted it to be concern just because he wanted me to be alright. I had about convinced myself that he didn't like me the way I hoped but that same small part wouldn't believe it and it was that small part that gave me the courage to test my boundaries.

"Hiei, I'm cold again. Will you be my radiator?" I asked.

He gave me his _Baka onna _look but still offered his lap to me with his ever simple, "Hn."

I took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't get too mad and then painfully climbed into his lap, sitting backward on my knees so I could hug him. He went as stiff as a board and then relaxed only a little and put his arms around my back which, I guess, was an embrace for him. It wasn't a loving embrace, though, like, _I'm glad you're here_. It was more of just an acknowledgement like, _Since you insist that your presence be known, I won't ignore you_. That hurt more than my wound, but it didn't help that my stomach convulsed again.

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

What was this onna doing? She was wrapped around me in any way possible—her arms locked behind my back and her tail also curled around my waist. Not to mention her legs which were straddling me. The only part of her not touching me were her ears which were still pinned back in pain and I was beginning to think they would stay that way permanently.

Her smell of vanilla and coconut was less strong now compared to the stench of her blood, acting as a temptation for me. Once again, I was thankful that mating season was already over.

The feeling that I would break my vow of not leaving her was still present which made me wonder, _If I already let her down then why wasn't it gone? Is more yet to come? Would it be worse, bringing her closer to death? I hope not. ….Why?

* * *

_

~KAT'S POV~

The next day I was well enough that we continued on our journey….well, mostly I just sat around by the scarab while everyone else solved the puzzle. They had to go back across the tops of the pharaoh statues and pull a switch on the other side to release the scarab from the poles restraining it. Then it was my job to put the bug back in place.

Aside from the scarab design, there was also plenty of sand in the room around several skinny spires. Two blocks in one corner under a gate (where the switch was that the others had pulled) were near a hook which I used to help me reach one of the lower spires. I jumped from there to another spire and could then reach a deteriorating portion of the wall where I could see part of the gears that would move the scarab. I began climbing my way toward the scarab when the portion of the wall in my hand crumbled and I fell.

The fall wasn't a long one, but it would have been enough to hurt my already battered body had Hiei not been there to save me.

"You caught me," I stated, mostly because I hadn't expected my team to be back yet.

He stepped away from the wall when Yusuke stepped up to help with the puzzle. In a tone that was barely audible to me, Hiei murmured, "Hn. I'll always catch you."

I wasn't even sure if he really said it or if I just wanted him to say it so I didn't reply, instead watching Yusuke tell Dusty, "You're closer to the size of one of those weights. Come here, I'll give you a boost."

Once she was hanging on the pole, the wings of the beetle moved down, pushing the body of the beetle up until the golden circle it was holding connected with the rest of the design. Then there was a loud _Click!_ sort of noise and the trap doors that we had seen from the lower floor dropped open, dumping the sand from this room into the one below us. This would allow us to reach the exit down there.

The exit in the lower room brought us into a more colorful room with many hieroglyphics adorning the walls. The main feature of the room was a large door with the always present winged scarab design, this time in gold against the white stone. Facing the door were four red miniature obelisks, each one with its own symbol at the top and lining the room were eight pillars, carved from the wall, with moveable blocks at the bases.

Our first step was to move all of the blocks, two of which released panthers. Then we noticed that four of the blocks had been on pressure pads which, once the blocks were moved, raised the obelisks two show rotating bases.

"There are four pictures of pharaohs that the bases can be turned to," I spoke.

"Yes, and each pharaoh is holding a different symbol," added Kurama. "I would guess that some of these chambers which were blocked by the stones have clues to the combinations."

I followed him to the first chamber on the left and we found the first combination. It was a blade-like image over a picture of the pharaoh holding a blue pot.

"Yusuke," Kurama called back to our team. "Find the obelisk with the image of the reed."

"The what?" Yusuke called back.

I giggled. "This is Yusuke you're talking to, Kurama. He doesn't identify things like we do. You have to put it in terms he'll understand."

I jogged back out of that chamber and as I ran by in search of the next clue, I told Yusuke, "The picture that looks like a red blade."

"Got it," he said as I moved to the chamber to the left of the door.

"It goes with the guy with the blue pot," I said and Kurama chuckled, following me into the next chamber.

After we studied that one, Kurama called, "Yusuke, find the twisted flax."

"What one?" Yusuke asked.

I gave Kurama my _I told you so_ look and so he corrected, "The….twisted golden hoops?"

"Got it," Yusuke called again.

"It goes with….the guy holding the lady on the plate."

I laughed at Kurama trying to explain things in a not-so-elegant manner and moved to the chamber right of the door. Kurama cocked his head at this symbol. "How do I describe _that_in terms Yusuke will understand?"

As entertaining as it was to listen to all this, the laughing was starting to hurt my stomach so I decided to help Kurama out by voicing, "The green 'y'….with flippy ends….?"

"Yeah?"

"It goes with the guy holding two white trapezoids."

We moved through the other chambers until we came to the first one on the left. When we returned, Kurama announced, "The bird one goes with the....well, I think it looks like a brown peat pot."

"Got it," said Yusuke and rotated the base of the last one as we all walked toward the door and it swung open.

The short hall inside led us into a tall room with the biggest obelisk yet in the center. Its base was surrounded by water which, if it was the same as the last game, was where the exit was hidden. In the middle of the obelisk (where we were level with right now) and on each face of the pillar was an artifact.

"Hey," said Christy. "That one looks like it could fit in the small obelisk outside the sphinx."

"Then those are our objective for this level."

I looked at all the bridges that were too far away for us to reach right now. We were going to have to do a lot of climbing and I already wished I hadn't gotten hurt not too long ago.

* * *

**A/N:** Whoa, there were a lot of POV changes in this chapter. Sorry about that. I hope no one got confused. Um, it came to my attention as I was reading through this that some of my writing didn't make a whole lot of sense sometimes. So I read this story to my sister and together we worked out some kinks so I hope that makes it a little easier to read. I guess it's a little late for that, so sorry again.

And I have come to the conclusion that no news is good news, right? So I won't keep demanding that you guys review. I can see that you're reading the chapters and that makes me happy....a little less happy than reading a review, but I won't keep badgering you guys. Review if you feel like it. Just know that it makes me happy when you do. :) So with that said, I will take my leave.

Please Review! If you want to!

~Kateracks


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Oops, sorry guys. I got really busy with my schoolwork and forgot to update this week. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Unfortunately, there's no dedications this time since I didn't get any reviews.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything, including Yu Yu Hakusho, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, or the Gummy Bear Song. Heh heh. You'll understand later.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen—No One's Invincible**

The setup for the Obelisk of Khamoon was identical to its original in the old game. The Obelisk itself was made of white stone and decorated with golden, winged scarabs and situated in the middle of the room, with plenty of distance between us and it so we would have to make use of the bridges currently in upright positions. As I was looking at the bridge in front of us, it suddenly began groaning and then fell forward, allowing access to the first artifact. I discovered that the cause of the bridge's change in position was due to Dusty who was standing near the right wall with her hand on a switch and a triumphant look on her face.

"One down," she said.

Kurama retrieved the stone which was shaped like an Egyptian eye and identified it as the Eye of Horus.

Our only other option was to take a ladder to our left that went down to the ground floor. From there it was clear that our path would continue through a door on the right side of the room which could only be reached by swimming in the pool. Once in the water, though, we could plainly see our exit for this level. It was under the surface and went under the Obelisk. Too bad it was blocked by a gate and from the symbols of a jackal, scarab, ankh, and the Eye of Horus (which matched the symbols by each of the bridges), it was obvious that we had to collect all four artifacts to escape.

Not far inside the door, we were faced with the trend of challenges for this level. A small section on either wall was smashing into the other and would be a gruesome way to meet Botan and Koenma again if we were caught between them. It wasn't too difficult to time the trap and gain safe passage to the other side. Further down the hall was another trap just like the previous one, but the final trap was a tiny bit more challenging since there were two sections of the wall smashing right next to each other.

The room after this trap was not much at first glance—just a broken staircase to the right and the same picture on every wall of a humanoid jackal leaning over a pharaoh's sarcophagus. However, if we looked up, we could see several walkways decorated with small pillars, scattered arrow traps, poles, and hooks for running on walls.

After staring tiredly at the puzzle, Yusuke raised his hand. "I vote that we go wait in the Obelisk room. Kat's the only one with a grapple that can do this stuff anyway."

I sighed and slumped, knowing that he was right. Not to mention that hardly any of us could pull off the gymnastic moves that I had been doing this whole time.

_I'm not even sure if I can do them anymore. Sometimes being the leader sucks._

"Yeah, you guys go head back," I agreed. "Climb the ladder up to the second level because we'll eventually be up there to grab the next artifact."

"You're stamina is pitiful," Hiei scoffed as he stepped up to my side and our group turned to go. There was no question that he was the toughest person I have ever met, but I could tell that even he was beginning to wear out.

Kurama gave me a sympathetic look and then spoke to Christy before joining us. He smiled encouragingly at me and then joked, "We wouldn't want you to get hurt again and be stuck with Hiei's medical expertise."

Hiei stared blandly at his friend. "I would cauterize any wound she received."

Kurama smiled. "Exactly my point."

We waited until our team had gone back through the first wall trap and then we began solving the puzzle. At the end of the broken staircase was a golden switch and once Kurama pulled it, a pillar on the left side of the room unexpectedly slid down so we could climb onto it and get a ride up to the higher levels of the room. From the pillar, we could reach a pole and then climb what used to be an inscription on the wall. It was a short jump to a ledge that began to slide into the wall and then we made our way over to the walkway decorated with small pillars in the middle of the room.

The climb up to the top was long and mostly uneventful, aside from the occasional slip on my part and seeing a very large mural that I would have taken time to examine if it hadn't been so decrepit. I could barely make out any shapes at all, but the colors were magnificent. Pillars and poles were our other tools in climbing and soon we had reached a platform near the ceiling with a door nearby.

A short hill inside led us into the clutches of a mummy. I froze completely, but the Atlantean was no match for Kurama and Hiei together. The way out of that area was a pit with a couple sliding poles, a sliding scarab model, and a crack to get across and reach a crumbling staircase. Two more wall traps awaited us in the hall along with another that was coming out of the floor and ceiling, but after that, we found ourselves in the Obelisk room, level with the pointed tip of the structure. On the right side of the room on another platform was a switch with a picture of an ankh. Across from us was a gate with a jackal picture and to the left was a third gate with a winged scarab above its doorway.

Kurama made his way over to the ledge on the right and pulled the ankh switch which dropped the bridge below us to the Ankh artifact and also raised the gate to the left. A couple cracks would be our ticket over there.

Kurama was also the first to use these cracks and when he was about halfway across the first one, the wall suddenly gave out from under him. I inhaled sharply, but there was no need. Before I could blink, he had used his feet to push himself sideways to a new section of the wall and then climbed up to the doorway.

Hiei and I followed him into a hall with blades spinning in and out of the walls. Not far from there was a pit filled with blades and could only be crossed by use of a pole. It was a good thing there was only three of us.

The next puzzle room was just as tall as the last one, but instead of starting from the bottom, we were at the top and instead of arrow traps, there were many blades. All of these blades were set vertically in the walls and could only be passed over by using a grapple. How fun for me.

To our right and across the room was a ledge leading to a door and in front of us was a very long slope that, once it reached the opposite wall, branched right and led down to the floor. This was where we went first and once on the floor, we had a second encounter with a mummy in this level. Again I froze up after catching sight of the face and gross yellow eyes, but luckily for me, Hiei and Kurama always had my back.

"Kat, what's wrong?" Kurama asked once the Atlantean was dead. "You had that same look on your face when we saw the last one."

"I feel like they're looking at me," I murmured.

"They are," Hiei responded. "They're looking at all of us. To them, we're food."

"You know what I meant."

"Perhaps they can smell your blood," Kurama suggested.

I shrugged and tried to look like a didn't care while walking around the area and picking up two medi-packs. There was also a switch in one of three pockets on the right wall which served two purposes once it was pulled. First, it opened two gates—a smaller one which housed a moveable block and a larger one which I guessed curved back out to the Obelisk. Second, and most prominently was that the slope split into two layers and the top layer slid back into the wall to reveal a set of very large stairs.

After thinking over our options for a few minutes I recalled our experiences with puzzles before and made the decision, "If the larger hall goes back toward the Obelisk and nothing is ever easy for us, I'm going to guess that we'll have to climb up first." I then cast a glance up toward where I had seen the door at the top of the staircase and figured a route in my head. "On second thought, I'll just have to climb up there since most of it will be grapple work. You guys can just hang out."

Needless to say, it was a lot easier going down than it was coming back up. Everything had to be perfectly timed because, aside from wall-running over the blades, I also had to use scarab sliders and jump off in time to reach safe areas. Everything was going smoothly until I got up above a walkway that stretched across the room (parallel to the slope under the door) and ran along the wall in a 'T' shape.

I was hanging on some cracks above the left end of the 'T' when the puzzle got more complicated. I realized I would have to time my run over a blade so that I could also run back across to a ledge that was too far above my head to reach. That was just the beginning. After that, I had to time my run so that I could make it over _two_ blades.

Unfortunately, I couldn't run fast enough and I felt the second blade graze my back as I pushed off toward a ledge near the large stairs. I almost forgot to grab the ledge and knocked a bit of the wind out of myself when I finally remembered. As I hung there for a minute to catch my breath and calm my shakes, I felt a bit of blood trickle down my spine and get absorbed by the waistband of my shorts. Luckily, the wound only stung and I was able to climb up to the top of the stairs with only a minor bit of pained hissing.

Then the fun started all over again. I had to wall-run above the stairs and then jump backwards and latch onto a second hook so I could reach a ledge that would allow me to climb up to the door by the ceiling. A delayed reaction this time could lead to death. Thank goodness there wasn't one.

There was a long hall inside that led to the switch that dropped the bridge with the jackal picture and then I headed back to meet up with the two boys. The route back was much easier since I just had to use a hook on the ceiling to swing back over to the top of the stairs and then it was just a matter of climbing back down them to ground level.

"Okay, let's go through the big gate now—the bridge is down," I announced once my boots hit the ground.

"You're bleeding," said Kurama.

"It's just a cut. There was a two blade trap up there and I got caught by the second one. It's not bad." Really, all that I was disappointed about was that my Yoshi tank top now had a jagged slit in the back.

"Even a cut can get infected here; let me take a look at it."

I rolled my eyes and pulled off my tank top so he could examine the small laceration. After a moment of prodding and putting some goo from a medi-pack on it, he put a gauze pad over it and then stepped back.

"I suppose it was fortunate that you already had your back wrapped. The bandage put some padding between you and the blade. If it hadn't been there, that wound could have been much deeper."

"Are you telling me I should thank _that_?" I asked sarcastically while pointing to the Atlantean corpse.

He ignored me and made a sort of sweeping gesture toward the gate. "Shall we go?"

I snorted at his behavior. "That gesture made me want to link arms with you and start skipping down the hall." I mimed what I had just spoken of and began singing, "_Follow the dirty, brick road! Follow the dirty, brick road! We're off the see the mummies! The horrifying mummies of death!_"

Hiei shook his head in disgust while Kurama tilted his and said, "That was very good. Did you just make that up?"

"Yes, thank you. Now I'll do Mary Poppins." I began pirouetting down the hall, this time singing, "_Chim chimminy, chim chimminy, chim chim churry! When you're with the Kat, you're as safe as can be!_"

"Oh yes, safe," said Hiei. "If we wish to be devoured by the thousand year old, Atlantean undead."

"Oh yeah?" Damn, he had a point. "Fine! Next time I'm singing you the Gummy Bear Song!"

How fortunate for him that I didn't have time to go any further with my retort since we came to another set of bone-crushing walls. On the other side were three spires in a deep, dark pit and there were blades over the middle spire, coming from both sides. Perfect timing was again involved, but this time I was spot-on.

Finally we came back out to the Obelisk and on the same level as the rest of our team. The bridge in front of us led over to the second artifact which was a circular piece of stone with many inscriptions on it.

Kurama briefly glanced over the carvings and then voiced, "Ah, the Seal of Anubis. I'm eager to see what title the next artifact holds." This was our cue to use some poles to our right to get to a walkway where there was another set of poles at the other end which took us to the third bridge we lowered.

Kurama picked up the Ankh and searched the item for the name of its holder. "The Ankh of Isis."

"Only one more to go!" I cheered.

"Good, I'm bored," Christy called.

"Only because you don't have Kurama over there," I hollered back to which the redhead behind me sighed and put a hand over his face. "Anyways, you could be helping, Ms. I'm-So-Tired."

"Oy, I'd rather be helping," Tayg inputted.

"Me, too!" cried Dusty.

So that was how our group rejoined us and, after we hauled them over to us with the grapple, we entered through the only door we hadn't been into yet—the one on the same platform as the Ankh. The traps inside this hall consisted of more blades which we had to crawl under and then a spire with walls crashing together over it. After that we came out into a room that was decorated with many broken pictures of pharaohs. It was just as tall as all the others we had been to and it looked like we had to climb some ledges to our left down to the floor.

Climbing to the floor far below would have been without fault had we seen the monsters awaiting us ahead of time and, when we finally did see them, we remembered that they could throw fireballs. They weren't aimed for me, however, which could be both good and bad considering who one of them actually did hit....

"Hiei!" I yelled as he was thrown back from the blast and then connected with the wall before falling to the floor and landing on top of the mummy that had thrown the fireball at him.

The rest of the team (excluding Kuwabara, Tiara, Lalo, and I since I was still scared of the damned things) continued climbing to the floor with Kurama giving orders to Yusuke and Christy to take the closest mummy, Tayg and Dusty to take the next one, and he and Hiei would take the last one. Too bad the mummies were quicker than our rescue team was….and stupid me, all I could do was watch as the scene below played out.

The first mummy, the one that Hiei had landed on, was incredibly disoriented and so it wasn't a threat for the moment. Unfortunately, the other two were and it was all Hiei could do to slash awkwardly at them while they leapt around him in their dog-like fashion.

While he slashed at the first one, the second one thrust a fist toward his head, but Hiei, being the trained fighter that he is, was able to duck to the side just in time. Though, the hand still caught his bandana, pulling it off. He kicked it in the stomach and then spun to confront the first one again.

Now what happened seemed to go in slow motion. The mummy swung one arm, missed, and countered with the other, hitting Hiei in the chest. My Guardian recovered and stabbed his katana through the Atlantean's stomach. The second mummy halted its bounding and approached its counterpart when it smelled blood, examining the wound and the blade while Hiei backed away to avoid being attacked. However, then the second mummy did something no one could have predicted. It took hold of the hilt in its partner and then turned the tables, retrieving the blade and piercing Hiei's side with it. I jumped when the blade shot out the other side and that was what cut the ropes that seemed to have me tied down. I scrambled down the ledges at the same time as Kurama and Christy hit the ground.

They took just enough time beheading the mummy Hiei landed on that the rest of us made it in time to mutilate the second one and I ran to help my Guardian. He was just kind of….standing there, swaying on his feet, looking at the blade in his side.

"H-Hiei!" This call caught everyone else's attention.

In a soft voice that I never would have expected Hiei to possess, he commented, "I think….that hurt."

"You _think_?" Yusuke cried.

No one else said anything as Hiei stumbled and fell on me. The extra weight put unneeded tension on my wound and I struggled to hold both of us up as my knees nearly gave out.

"Kurama! Help!" I pleaded. The fox shook out of his daze and rushed over to pull his friend from me. Hiei had not passed out, but he was bordering on unconsciousness.

At Kurama's request, Yusuke stepped forward and knelt down to hold Hiei up so that Kurama could remove the sword. I also knelt down and held his feet so he wouldn't kick anyone from the pain that was guaranteed to come. Kurama took hold of the hilt and began to draw out the blade while Hiei bucked and strained against our holds.

And that's when I heard it. Hiei's growl rose in volume until he was crying out in pain—at least, as low as it was, it was more of a cry than he would have normally allowed.

"K-Kurama, stop!" Hiei commanded and, quickly finishing, he added, "If you don't change the position of the blade, you'll sever my nerves. I'll be paralyzed." That last statement hit home with me and I went into my characteristic "Fix it" mode.

"Turn it down," I told Kurama, noticing that the sharp side of the blade was turned inward toward Hiei's spine. Kurama only looked to me in confusion and we switched places so that I could twist the sharp edge so that it was pointing toward Hiei's hip. Then I let Kurama take over once again.

It seemed like forever before the katana slipped out of Hiei's side and I hurriedly put a pad of gauze on either side to stop the gushing blood while Kurama wound bandage wrap around his torso.

* * *

We decided to stay put in that area for a week. Even though my Guardian's youkai healing was slowed in this dimension, he was still quicker than others.

The first night, Hiei couldn't sleep so we all stayed awake until he dozed off. After two hours, I went behind him, carefully putting his head in my lap and began playing with the prickles of hair on the nape of his neck. The rest of our group had begun their own conversation with Christy, Tiara, and Dusty telling a story or two.

"Are you tired yet?" I eventually spoke to my Guardian. He shook his head slowly and continued to stare at the far off ceiling in a disbelieving, and at the same time pissed off, manner.

Next, I tried what my mom used to do that always made me go to sleep. If it worked, I would have to sleep sitting up but that was another talent I had developed over the years. I gently began to trace the features of his face with my index finger.

His crimson eyes widened a fraction before returning to normal and he began blinking up at the ceiling with a little more sleepiness than before. I smiled softly, glad that it was working and went over his eyebrows, cheekbones, nose, and….

I stopped at his chin, catching myself before I went for his lips and forced my hand to lie on his forehead instead, moving his bangs and noticing again that his Jagan had been sealed shut when we entered this dimension and I wondered if anything could hurt it.

"Am I hurting your Jagan Eye?" I asked. Again he shook his head slowly, but his gaze changed to look up at me.

Somehow—don't ask me how—I saw a child there. Probably because when he isn't trying, he looks like he never considers killing anyone. In fact, he's kind of naïve in some aspects of life—like relationships, for example. He had mastered the most difficult attack I knew of, but when it comes to a relationship, he's totally clueless.

All of these thoughts crossed my mind and continued generating more like them as he fell asleep.

* * *

When the week was up, we set out again. Hiei had healed well and he was as stubborn as ever, insisting on following me wherever I went in case I were attacked my mummies again. How fortunate that I went to pull the last switch in the upper hallway while he was sleeping. I sort of wished I hadn't once I found out that there were four blades and then killer walls on all three spires, but I made it without dying so I suppose there was no need to fret about it.

Hiei climbed back up to where we had entered all by himself and then we headed back to the last bridge which held the Scarab of Osiris. As we stood on the bridge, we could feel the ground rumble beneath us and ripples formed on the pool's surface, signaling the gate underwater had opened.

Getting down was easy since we could just bail over the edge of the bridge and start swimming. The tunnel underneath had many pockets and short tunnels, but we ignored these and proceeded straight since the end of the tunnel curved upward and led to the surface. The room was very small, if it could be called a room at all since it only had a platform to climb out onto, a switch, and a ladder nearby. Dusty collected the medi-pack and clips on the platform and then pulled the switch to let us out.

Yusuke helped me out of the water and I was unsure of why at first until he tilted his head at me with a worried expression and asked, "Are you alright, Kat?"

My brows furrowed. "Yeah, why?"

"Your lips are blue and you're shaking." I hadn't noticed, but I was.

"Is that any surprise?" Hiei snapped. "She is suffering from blood loss." Not that he had room to talk either because he wasn't any better off than I was.

"Hey, guys," Dusty called from the upper room. "We've been here before. It's the room with the six pharaoh statues from the last level."

The rest of us climbed up after her and found that she was right. We were back at the beginning of the Temple of Khamoon. I did a quick run-through in my mind of the places we had visited in the Temple and concluded that there were no doors we had left unopened except for the one in the courtyard where we first met the mummies.

"I think we should head back out to the courtyard with the mini obelisk—where the pieces we collected should go."

We walked the long hall the led us out into the bright light of the setting sun. Kuwabara squinted into the light and turned toward the big door and then….he was suddenly not beside me anymore and I was knocked off my feet.

My eyes adjusted fully and I saw Kuwabara treading water in the pool surrounding the small obelisk and a centaur standing over me. It wasn't wearing armor so when Dusty blasted it with her shotgun, it was actually injured. Tayg joined in the barrage of bullets along with Yusuke and soon the horseman was no more. Kurama helped me to my feet again and I glanced back up to the setting sun while rubbing my arms to warm myself.

"I know we just rested, but I'm not feeling so hot, guys," I said. "I think we should all get to feeling one hundred percent before we proceed on to the Sanctuary of the Scion."

Nobody objected so Yusuke volunteered, "I'll stand watch. I can only rest for so long before I start feeling the need to run around and destroy stuff."

"In that case, I better stand watch with him," said Tiara.

At that point, I didn't really care as long as they could stay awake. I was pretty sure everything in this area was dead now anyway. Nodding my consent, I directed them to the overhang above the door and then I went and curled up by the sphinx where the sun would be blocked from my eyes.

* * *

~TIARA'S POV~

Yusuke and I had watched the sun set together and it wasn't until it had gotten dark that he finally said something to me—quietly, of course, since the others were asleep.

"We had a lot of close calls back there."

"Yeah," I agreed, looking toward the floor where I knew Lalo was curled up somewhere beneath us, resting his broken wing. "And Katie's never admitted to feeling bad."

"I was talking about you. Kat's a tough bitch; she can take care of herself. But you've never even thought about fighting or killing anything, have you?"

I stared down at my lap and shook my head. "I've never had to."

"That's exactly my point, T. Here, you can't just shrug stuff off. You can't leave something alive because if you do, it will come back to kill you later. I've learned that a lot while having my job as spirit detective. And you don't have a gun either….your powers are gone….only I'm here to protect you."

I rolled my eyes. "You dork, I know what you're here for, but you haven't really been paying attention either. I mean, if you would have been watching where I was instead of trying to find out what Katie was doing so you could get in on the action, you could have stopped me from getting into the fight with the centaurs."

He slumped, knowing that I was right. "I'm not blaming you," I hastily added. "I like being able to help, but you're acting like I don't know that I could get hurt out here."

"Well, what would I do if I lost you?"

I laughed softly and then replied, "Probably do really bad in school."

"Like that would be something horrible; it's happened before. But that's not what I meant. I just….Tiara…."

"Hmm?"

He didn't say anything and when I looked up at him again, we about bumped noses. We both laughed but neither of us moved away. In fact, he kept getting closer until he was kissing me square on the lips. My mind fuzzed and what he was doing didn't register until he pulled away a few seconds later, looking hurt. I wasn't sure what to say.

"Um….oh."

"_Oh_? That's not exactly what I was hoping for."

I smiled quickly and turned him back to me. "It was nice, it's just that I have never been kissed before and I was a little slow. I'm sorry."

He waved me off. "Nah, it's okay. It was kind of a weird time to do that anyway."

I scanned the ground beneath us for anything dangerous-looking before looking back at him again. "What else are we going to do?" He shrugged and leaned back on his hands. "Let me try this time."

"Huh?"

Then I kissed him under the stars and the blanket of the night sky, surrounded by the beautiful, moonlit, Temple of Khamoon and without Katie's hormone-sensing interruptions. I don't think that I could have planned it anymore romantically.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

Lalo shifted beside me and raised his nose to the wind. Hiei had moved me closer to the group so I was not totally asleep, but nothing was really being soaked into my mind either so I didn't really know for sure if the alien had actually moved until he nudged me with his small head.

"What?" I mumbled sleepily.

"Lady Katie, mistress is giving off the scents of pleasure and passion."

I groaned and rolled over to ignore the little alien, but that woke Christy up. "What's going on?"

"Lalo's Virgin Radar is going off."

She took a quick sniff of the air and then lay back down, complaining, "I thought he was supposed to be her second Guardian, not a Chastity Belt."

I was too tired to care at this point. Besides, even in my drowsy state, I knew Kurama could smell what was going on, too, and he was a lighter sleeper than I was. If Yusuke got out of hand, he would step in.

"She'll still have her innocence tomorrow, Lalo. Go to sleep. I've got a team to lead in a few hours."

But I couldn't help smiling as I drifted back to sleep. Three out of four couples were together and even if Hiei and I didn't get any closer, it was still worth all this to see them blush around each other.

* * *

**A/N:** So there it is. See? It wasn't as disturbing as the disclaimer made it seem. ....Raise your hand if you actually read the disclaimer. Pfft. Anyway, I hope that I kept everyone in character for the most part. It's kind of hard to keep Hiei in character when I did what I wanted to with his scene, but I tried to make it seem as close to normal as I could. Let me know.

Review if you feel like it! Remember, I accept anonymous reviews.

~Kateracks


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Not much to say this time around. Sorry I'm late on the update again. This chapter is dedicated to **Death 101- Fox Version **for reviewing the earlier chapters.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Tomb Raider, Yu Yu Hakusho, Crocodile Dundee, or even a Rubix Cube.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen—This is a _Sanctuary_?**

The next morning we arose earlier than expected and proceeded into the colorful hall of the next level which was the Sanctuary of the Scion. I felt thoroughly rested, but I noticed that, as we all moved up the large staircase into the next dark place, Hiei was looking more and more tired. That and my increasing fear of the enhanced mummies had us both hanging back when two of the Atlanteans came charging down the stairs.

Kurama, Christy, Tayg, and Dusty made short work of these guys and then we climbed the rest of the stairs to the upper level where there were four columns on rotating bases, all of which had the four pictures that we had encountered at the end of the Temple of Khamoon—the guy holding a plate with either a lady, white trapezoids, blue pots, or (in Kurama's words) the brown peat pots. These four columns created a square with a trap door in the middle.

"So this puzzle is just like the other one we did," Yusuke said.

"Basically," I replied. "Except the pictures on the wall show us that we need to turn the columns so that the picture on one mirrors the same picture on the other."

He went over to the one closest to us on the left. "So this picture wants the white trapezoids to mirror each other. Okay. Kuwabara, take the back left one."

If only it were that simple. As he turned that base, the bases of the back left column and the front right column also rotated.

Kurama smiled. "It's like an ancient Rubix Cube."

"Aw, I hate those things," Kuwabara whined.

"This one is simple enough," continued my brilliant redheaded friend. "The base of the back right column did not rotate with the others so it is the next step." Kuwabara took this one instead and, after consulting the picture on the right wall, turned the base enough to change the picture. "See? Your column doesn't rotate Yusuke's either. Yusuke, turn that one again and then Kuwabara, change the picture on yours to the blue pot."

I love having Kurama on my team. As soon as Kuwabara had accomplished his task for the second time, the trapdoor opened and a pillar slid out of the floor. After collecting a medi-pack and clips for Tayg in the surrounding area, we climbed to the top of the pillar and then dragged ourselves up some bricks to a ladder that went to the top of the hole.

The hall above came to an end with a deep pit and several wall traps that were solved with the use of scarab sliders and cracks in the masonry. The path on the other side led out into a sizably spacious room with a ceiling of lofty elevation and we were currently closer to the ceiling than the ground because we were standing on the back of an enormous sphinx. How did I know? Well, I'm a game nerd and we could see the outline of a massive head in front of us.

There was a broken staircase off the right and left shoulders of the gigantic statue and there was a switch and a door at the top of each one which we obviously couldn't reach at the moment. Our only choice was to use one of the ladders to get down to the arms of the beast and then climb another ladder down to the floor.

We cautiously made our way to the front of the sphinx and found a small flight of stairs leading up to a door in between the statue's paws. It was a picture of a jackal and a birdman. There was an indentation on either side of the door for an ankh.

Looking at the birdman again, I thoughtfully voiced, "Or maybe an amulet."

"An amulet? I thought it was another one of those ankh things," said Tiara.

I smiled embarrassedly. "Sorry, I was thinking out loud. You see, this birdman is drawn like a falcon and Horus was usually pictured as either a falcon or a man with a falcon's head."

"So what?" said Christy.

"Do you remember last year when I played Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation?" I asked.

"Yeah…."

"Don't you remember the beginning? You watched it with me and I kept repeating it for days." I lowered my voice to my best deep, prophetic tone and repeated, "He who removes the Amulet shall release Set."

"Oh yeah, I remember," sighed Christy.

"Well, Horus battled his brother, _Set_, for control of upper Egypt. They also battled—sort of—in The Last Revelation so I was just wondering if this was what inspired that game or if that game inspired this. The Amulet of Horus looked like an ankh with a jewel on it and this jackal guy could be Set."

"Does that mean we're going to have to fight these guys?" Dusty asked.

I shook my head. "The plot of this game is still the same and it has nothing to do with Horus or Set. I was just speculating on the Egyptian architecture. Sorry."

"The cat shows us the way," said Lalo and gestured with his tail in the direction the sphinx was looking. On the wall in front of the sculpture was a long ladder. This is where we went first.

After scaling fifteen feet of ladder, there was a break and we had a decision to make on whether to go right or left since there were poles going either way. We went right first and landed on a pathway which would have led to the one of the doors we could see from the sphinx's back, but it was destroyed in the middle. We would have to climb higher and then jump down on the other side.

Fortunately, there was a second ladder where we landed and we took this one next which took us up about another ten feet to a second path which was also broken or else it would have extended up closer to the ceiling. Now we were high enough that we could gain some momentum to make the jump across to the other side of the path below. There were two immense pillars lining the right side of the path and these supported the other half of the second pathway above. We would have to get up there since the bottom path had crumbled in a second place (which we could not see earlier) and would not allow access to the door.

The first pillar had some gashes in it which allowed us to climb up its surface and to the platform which they supported. The last of us had just reached the top when a fireball came sailing out of nowhere. Hiei and Tayg did a visual sweep of the lower levels, but they were looking in the wrong area. The mummies that were now attacking were of a breed with wings and were attacking from the air.

Tayg immediately whipped out his pistols and Dusty ran to his side to help out. Kurama and Christy ganged up on the second one and had it de-winged before it was close enough to be a real threat. The bad thing? These mummies exploded when they died and nearly brought the ground out from under Tayg and Dusty. It's a good thing the Egyptians were good with setting stone.

As we were about to jump down to the door, Kuwabara happened to glance over at the sphinx and called to me, "Hey Kat, there's something on the sphinx's head!"

I looked over to the headdress and saw that there was indeed something shiny on the statue's head, the metal surface of whatever it was was catching the sunlight peeking through the ceiling.

It was Dusty who pointed out, "There's a hook out from us about five feet and another over in front of the sphinx's face."

"Easy." And it was. By now I had gotten good at using my grapple and it was a simple task to swing over to the sphinx's headdress where I picked up some new weapons.

"Woo hoo!" I cheered and my happiness echoed throughout the vast tomb. "Dual mini SMG's!" No one shared in my exuberance so I clarified, "Uzis!" Still it was silent which put a damper on my mood and I called, "Rapidly firing handguns."

Murmured oh's were all that reached my ears and I swung back to them with less ecstasy than I had had a moment before. We jumped down to the door and pulled the nearby switch which not only opened the gate blocking the door, but it also raised a portion of the floor to the broken staircase, repairing the problem.

The same old crushing wall trap awaited us in the hall before the next big puzzle. The puzzle room itself was gigantic, though not quite to the extent that the sphinx room was; mostly it was just high and had water at the bottom. Set into the ceiling was an upside down obelisk and the triangular point on the top was made from glass shaped a prism. On the other side of the room was a small opening in the wall that allowed the sunlight outside to filter into the room. There was a switch beneath this opening and that was our first objective.

Pulling the switch lowered the obelisk until its shiny point caught the ray of sunlight. Four beams, one from each facet, shot out toward each corner of the room. However, they only hit the walls and nothing happened. We all looked down toward the area where they connected with the wall and found that there were four similar obelisks submerged in the water below. The obelisk above us slid back out of reach of the sunlight and then the puzzle's solution came to Kurama, Tiara, and I at the same time.

"We have to raise the other four obelisks to complete the network."

"That looks like a good place to start," said Dusty, indicating the other side of the room.

To the right of where we had come was in a sequence of cracks and ladders that would lead straight down to the first of the obelisks. From a crack near the ladder, one of us could grab onto a gap in a section of the wall with gears that worked like a pulley. If the weight was offset, the section would sink and raise the obelisk.

Kurama was the first to try this and he rode the section of the wall down until his shoes were nearly in the water. A white circular object at the top of the section was trapped between two semicircles held by scarabs so that the obelisk would remain up. A bit of a walkway level with the obelisk point was also extended which directed our attention to a door across the way that we would need the full length of the walkway to access.

We worked our way around the rest of the room, climbing cracks and poles, obelisks, and walkways to do the same procedure to raise all four obelisks to their full height. After that, Tayg was sent back up to the entrance to pull the switch. The obelisk again came down from the ceiling and met the ray of sunlight, but this time when the four beams shot out of its facets, they met the points of the other four obelisks, creating a pyramid shape. The door at the other end of the walkway also ground open.

"That was some profound engineering," marveled Kurama.

I nodded and took him and Yusuke with me to go investigate the new room. Just as I had anticipated, there was a mummy inside, guarding the first golden ankh. The door had shut, trapping us inside, but once the ankh was removed, it opened again and also lowered a gate down by the water's edge that would lead out.

The long hall inside took us out to the paws of the sphinx. Of course, we couldn't claim an artifact without some more trouble. An unarmored centaur came after us, but was soon disposed of. This time when we climbed the ladder in front of the sphinx, we took a left at the break and had to climb over some rubble to reach the pillars identical to the other side that would take us to the upper level. There were three pillars this time and we had to start at the third and work our way backwards to find a gap in the upper level where we could fit through.

"Hold up, guys," I called once we were all up. "I want to try out these new guns."

I switched out the .50 calibers in my holsters for the mini SMG's and then took a second to try and adjust my mangled belt.

"Onna!"

I was suddenly lifted off my feet and carried out over the ground far below.

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

Where did that flying mummy come from? As it lifted my charge off her feet, I grabbed her belt (the only thing within my reach) in an attempt to pull her back. Unfortunately, Shorty's belt hadn't been treated very well as of late and as I grasped it, the latch came undone and the belt was all that was left in my hand.

"Hiei!" she cried and grabbed onto the mummy's feet so that it wouldn't be able to drop her.

"No, don't shoot!" I heard Kurama command the others. "It will drop her."

I was currently strapping the belt on myself, making sure that the latch was secure this time and then I jumped off of the platform, catching the feet of a second mummy. With little time if I wanted to be in the correct position for my plan to work, I used one of the onna's new guns to fire in front of the Atlantean's face, scaring it into propelling itself backwards toward the first mummy.

The time arrived and I turned my fire to the captor of my charge, waiting until it combusted into fiery pieces before I released my hold on the second mummy and dove after Shorty. I caught her just in time to twist back around and grapple onto the hook in front of the sphinx's face.

She was nearly choking me in fear as she breathed raggedly into my shirt and then whispered, "You caught me again."

"Were you not listening last time?"

"I was, but—Oh jeez, it's coming back!"

I assumed she meant the mummy and put the gun into her hand. "Keep it at bay and I'll swing us over to the sphinx."

She covered my ear and started shooting at our pursuer while also leaning with me to give us some more momentum to make the jump over to the head. We had nearly gained enough speed to make the jump when I heard, "Oh damn!" and then there was an explosion. The hook we were grappled onto had been bombarded by the combustion of the mummy and came loose.

We fell toward the sphinx's headdress and my boots barely caught the edge. But barely just wasn't enough. The soles of my boots slipped off of the worn stone and we fell back into the deadly drop toward the ground.

If you asked me how we were lucky enough not to be splattered all over the tomb floor, my answer would more than likely be "Hn" and then I would walk away and ignore you the rest of the time. This is because I'm not even sure how it happened.

Apparently, when the hook was blown out of the ceiling, the grapple line hadn't retracted and so as we were falling to our deaths, the grapple was whipping around somewhere above us. All I know is that there was a sudden jerk and an abrupt stop in our decent. So abrupt, actually, that my charge was flung from my grip and, although my head was shaken up, I still had enough sense to grab her arm as she fell away from me.

After a moment of debating on whether I was dreaming, I looked up and caught sight of the grapple wedged into a crack in the sphinx's nose. Normally I would scoff and comment on how pompous ningens were to feel it necessary to sculpt huge heads of their kind on statues, but for the moment I was eternally grateful that they had and their sphinx had a very large nose. I then looked down to where my charge was dangling above the ground and saw that she was only a ten foot drop away from it.

"That grapple won't hold for much longer. Let me drop and then retract it."

I did as she suggested and promptly sank into a crouch once my feet hit the ground. There was thunderous cheering from above us, but I ignored it while the onna waved to show we were alright. Once the noise died down, the suggestion was made that the rest of them go into the second door while we waited on safe ground. Even though I didn't voice it, I was very thankful for that suggestion.

* * *

~MY POV~

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let it get so close," I apologized, but Hiei merely shook his head, propping himself up against the wall near the Horus and Set door. I was expecting him to call me a "baka onna", but he didn't say anything and I took notice again of how bad he appeared.

"Stop giving me that look." Or perhaps he wasn't so bad off after all.

We sat around for about a half an hour before the sound of two centaurs trotting around the side of the sphinx caught our attention.

"Are you afraid of them, too?" Hiei murmured, so soft and smooth that I wasn't sure he had really asked me. It was easy to understand why he was such a deadly opponent.

I crouched next to him. "No, they're simple enough as long as they don't have armor."

"They don't; there's no sound of metal. You take the closest one."

I nodded and retrieved my .50 caliber pistols from my shoulder holsters while Hiei took hold of the SMG's still strapped onto his waist. I would never have expected that he would use those again.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," he uttered as he stood beside me, waiting for the centaurs to come around the paw of the sphinx.

A head appeared and I cracked off a shot, sending a couple bullets into the Atlantean's brain. However, in the split second it took for me to do that, Hiei had disappeared and suddenly reappeared leaping off the sphinx's paw onto the back of the second centaur, easily riding every buck and quick turn the horseman took before he lowered the gun to its head and executed it.

"That must mean they solved the puzzle," I said.

"Yes, and it was exactly the same as the last one," Kurama spoke from behind me to which I jumped and whipped around. He waved a second golden ankh and a medi-pack at me before ascending the stairs to the Horus and Set door. I followed grumpily, mumbling about how I hated it when he snuck up on me.

The two ankhs were placed in their appropriate spots and then the door groaned open, showing a smooth, round rock in the middle of the path beyond.

"What's this 'ere fer?" asked Tayg, laying his hands on its surface. He looked extremely surprised when it started rolling away from him and sped down the winding path in front of us, mowing over a troop of rats in the process.

"Apparently for that," I giggled, running after the boulder.

We chased that rock about a hundred and fifty feet before the hall gave way to a monstrous room—and by monstrous, I mean _monstrous_! The boulder flew out over the edge and took four seconds to hit the water which was flooding the room. If you could imagine the size of the previous room, you wouldn't even be able to accurately visualize the size of this one. Whereas the last room housed a full-scale sphinx, it was laying down. This room held two full-size sculptures of Horus and his brother Set, both of which were sitting in raised thrones. The water level rose over the heads of each statue so that only the tips of Set's ears were visible in the sunlight coming through an opening in the cave ceiling. And, of course, across from us and out of reach was the exit.

"The path to the way out used to be between the feet of Horus," I supplied.

"Who wants to go check?" asked Yusuke.

No one volunteered. "Don't everyone jump at once," grumbled Dusty and dove into the water. She disappeared into the depths and reappeared almost a whole minute later, coughing before informing us, "It's not there!"

"I'll go 'n' check th' other one then, aye?" Tayg didn't wait for any replies and jumped in. He came back within the same amount of time and said, "'S not in th' other either."

"Aw shart," I huffed and climbed back to my feet. "Come on, guys. Once we find out how to drain this place, we'll all need to be down there anyway."

One by one we filed into the water and I took note that there was a ladder in the space between the two statues. This was where I explored first and, lucky me, that was where I found the switch right when I was about to run out of breath. I forced the lever into the downward position and the room drained rather fast so that I only inhaled one breath of water before I broke the surface. The water level had dropped enough that we were now able to climb out on the feet of the statues.

"Are you going to make it, Kat?" Kuwabara asked me as I gagged some more on the water I had inhaled.

"No problem. Come on, the sands of time have worn more on Set than his brother. He'll be easier to climb."

We climbed up to the lap of the jackal statue where there was a gate with a switch inside. Carved into Set's lap were four pictures of scarabs, the head of each one pointing a different direction. Underneath the gate were four scarabs with targets on their backs that looked as though they would rotate. An experimental shot at one proved my theory correct and those of us with guns shot a scarab until the ones under the gate corresponded with the ones carved into Set's lap and the gate slid open.

The switch inside raised the water so that it was up to the shins of the sculptures, but it also looked as though it served another purpose. There was a pocket above the switch, but it couldn't be reached at the moment.

"We need to raise the water some more, guys. The path to the exit is up there."

"There's a switch on th' brother," said Tayg, pointing across the way where there was a switch on a slider.

"I'm on it," said Yusuke, climbing up a ladder near the gate and utilizing some cracks in Set's throne to get to the back wall where there was a pole to get to Horus's throne and the sliding switch. That's when I felt the annoying feeling that the gate was timed. Why else would the switch be so difficult to get to?

"Yusuke, just hang out for a minute."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back."

"What? No! I can't hang up here forever! Kat!" But I had already dove into the water and was swimming over to the gate.

The combination for the scarabs above was carved into the floor and was currently underwater so the pictures were a bit worn, but it was only minutely more difficult than the other one to figure out. After that, it only took another minute to configure the scarabs in Horus's lap and open the gate. This time, the water was raised to chest height meaning that the ledge I had noticed over in Set's statue was now accessible.

Yusuke dropped down into the water with us while I explained the next step to our team. "Why am I friends with you again?"

"Because I cover for you at school, Mr. Spirit Detective, whether you're really on business or being a lazy bum. You can do me a favor once and a while. You have to repay me for almost ending my life."

He flushed in embarrassment and followed me into the pocket. Inside we used some loose bricks to climb up to an opening that put us out by the face of Set. Some more bricks disguised by hundred-year-old moss took us up to the top of the throne. In the space between the two statues was another golden switch on a slider that, once pulled, raised the water enough that we could reach the exit.

The damp hall inside wound around about another eighty feet before we came to a room lined with red and gold and blue and gold pillars. At the other end of the path leading through the room was a double gate that held the Scion behind it. But, even after all the trouble we had already gone through, it wasn't over yet. Two centaurs and two mummies came charging toward us, intent on dismembering us and probably eating us afterwards.

Too bad for them, I wasn't scared of centaurs and so everyone helped out on this massacre, even Tiara, Kuwabara, and Lalo who served as distractions while those of us with weapons took out the threats. After that was over, we went to the opposite end of the grand hall and Yusuke boosted me onto a platform to the right of the gate.

The indentation on the wall could only fit a piece of the Scion and, after examining the pieces we had already acquired, it was plain to see that only the piece Tihocan had possessed could fit in this spot. A quick turn with the piece and the back part of the double gate slid open. Another quick turn with Qualopec's piece on the other side cleared the way for us to take the third piece of the Scion.

The room inside was completely empty; there were no mummy guards, no ancient rulers, not even the remains of one of the rulers, just the artifact glowing on its pedestal atop a flight of stairs. I hesitated at the top of the stairs and did another scan of the room to be sure there was no immediate danger. That did no good since as soon as I removed the artifact, the whole tomb started to cave in on top of us. Good thing there was a door covered in inscriptions behind us and when the place started to fall apart, it opened and revealed the light of day coming from the emergency escape route behind.

The tunnel spit us out on a cliff above a very large river, quite possibly the Nile since we were still in Egypt. After taking a moment to let everyone catch their breath, I called Kurama over to connect the third piece of the Scion to the rest of it.

"Here, this is for you. Hiei, Christy, come here."

Connecting the pins was a synch this time and our hands were once again drawn to the Scion as the rest of the history of Atlantis was initiated.

Fire was consuming the ruins of a once beautiful city that was positioned in the middle of a vibrant green valley. As we entered this scene of destruction, we were once again met with the sight of the three kings, only this time the platform that they were standing on was clearly visible as were the human statues surrounding it. We were dropped onto this platform and free to move around.

The conversation of the three kings began with the repetition of Qualopec's words to the third king who was on their knees, "But it is my face you will see in your nightmares."

"What have you to say for yourself?" Tihocan demanded of their fellow king.

"The gods favor action, not counsel." Ah, so the third king was actually a queen. Wait a minute. That voice sounded familiar.

"But it is this counsel that rules over you today," said Qualopec.

"You rule over nothing," the queen retorted snidely. "Atlantis is in ruin. Nothing can change that. Everything must burn! Only then can the Seventh Age begin." I definitely knew that voice, but just to be sure, I began walking around the kings in order to see, my friends trailing behind me.

"She is on a path to madness!" Qualopec said to his brother and then told his sister, "I wash my hands of you."

Tihocan pointed a finger at the queen, "For your treachery—abusing your power of the Scion to unleash our armies against us—I expel you forever from the sacred Order of the Three and condemn you to shame in the frozen limbo of eternity."

As the two kings began chanting their condemnation on the queen, she raised her head for her final words, revealing her face to all the witnesses. The queen was Jacqueline Natla.

"It cannot be stopped," she raved. "The wheels of Cathor are already in motion. Doom will find you both and I will rise from the dust of limbo to finish what I've started!" And then she was nothing but a body frozen in a mound of ice spikes.

The mental pictures came to a halt and I opened my eyes….

Only to find Natla herself standing in front of me with an evil smirk on her face. I reached to my hips for my pistols, only to realize too late that Hiei still had them strapped to his waist and by then I was being restrained by a very large black man in a trench coat so I couldn't reach my shoulder holsters. Not that it would have done any good if I had remembered sooner because across from me was a gangster/skater boy cross who currently had my SMG's pointed at my team and Larsen was nearby with Dusty's shotgun in one arm and Yusuke's shotgun in the other. The man behind me also stripped me of my .50 caliber pistols. Natla gently took the Scion from my hand and walked toward the cliff.

So frustrated that we had been caught off guard again, I could only enlighten the team on why this group of villains was currently here.

"It was you," I spoke to Natla. "You were the Queen of Atlantis."

She stopped and turned halfway back toward me. "Once."

In a softer tone I went on, "And the Scion holds its history."

Natla smiled down at the artifact in her hand and replied malevolently, "It holds far more than that." I struggled a bit against the hold on me. "All the knowledge of the Ancients—things none of _you_ could even comprehend."

Perhaps, but there was one new piece of information that had been mentioned and I had to know the answer. "What is the Seventh Age?"

Natla turned and walked back to me, leaning into my face as she inquired, "How far are you willing to go to find out, Lara?" We stared each other down for several moments before I looked away, wondering how far I would actually be able to make it.

"Not far enough, I'm afraid," Natla sneered and then turned to her henchmen. "Kill her quickly. We have work to do."

The gangster/skater boy rip-off laughed and pointed a gun at me. "I'm going to enjoy this."

The black man behind me snorted at that. "Enjoy watching. I'm cuttin' her." Then he drew a gigantic hunting knife that looked like it came straight out of the Crocodile Dundee movies.

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

Shorty twisted in the black ningen's grasp, but it was pointless; he was much bigger and stronger than her. Laughing, he gripped her neck, pushing her up against the cliff wall and holding the knife under her jaw.

The fear in her eyes caused my instincts to kick in and I knocked the pistols out of the inexperienced boy's hands. The military man shot at me, but I was much faster than his aim and shotguns took a bit longer to reload. This gave me just enough time to elbow the black ningen in the stomach before they all turned on me and I had to devise another split-second plan.

_I know too much. If I escape, they won't kill them, they'll use them for bait. But the only way out is over the cliff. _

There wasn't much choice and as they shot at me again, I ran over to the cliff edge and dove over at the same time as a shotgun rang out behind me. The Atlantean queen yelled, "You morons!" to her henchmen and the idiot of our team shouted, "Dude, he totally ditched us!"

It could either be a good or bad thing that the shotgun blast had grazed my arm because the water made the wound seem worse than it really was and the henchmen assumed I was dead so they didn't pursue. When I was sure of my safety, I resurfaced and used the current of the river to propel me back toward where I knew the ningen vehicles were parked. Fortunately, the onna had taught me how to start and drive one or else I would have been swimming the whole way.

The road back to where we escaped the Sanctuary of the Scion, however, was not in perfect condition and I was not skilled with jumping the bike. In fact, when the road produced a gap in front of me, it was sheer luck that I leaned sideways and used the cliff face for traction to get over it. I was then driving along the river and saw the large boat that the Atlantean queen was using. However, the road ended again at the edge of that river and I knew I would have to jump the bike off of the end to make it to the boat. It's a good thing that the vehicle did not belong to Shorty or I would never hear the end of it.

I pushed the bike to full speed and then braced my feet against the back of the vehicle so that I could gain some distance when I jumped. But the distance wasn't enough and I found myself using the grapple on Shorty's belt to hook onto the boat's railing and pull myself onto the deck where I found a hatch that led down to a laundry room. A large mound of clean laundry was piled on the floor against the wall and I couldn't help but lie down on it. I had to admit, I was exhausted and I had a feeling that this boat ride would be a long one.

* * *

**A/N:** Again, sorry for the lateness of this chapter. School has been terrible. I'll try to do better.

Review if you like!! Anonymous reviews welcome!!

Laters!!

~Kateracks


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** No dedications this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Tomb Raider.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen—Mining Promises**

~HIEI'S POV~

The sound of a smaller boat was what threw me into consciousness the next day. There were voices outside the porthole by which I slept and then the engine revved and the boat sped off. I listened until the sound had faded before I realized that I should be following it and now all was silent. Groaning in annoyance, I climbed out of the hatch I had used to enter yesterday and climbed up to the deck. Fortunately for me and my still tired body, the boat hadn't gone far. In fact, its destination was within plain sight.

A medium sized island had suddenly sprung up out of the empty vastness of the water, the vivid green vegetation looking oddly placed among the clear blue liquid. The end of the land mass that was nearest to me had a cave and I knew that was where I would find my teammates.

With a regretful sigh, I dove off of the railing and into the water, swimming the distance to the cave in a short period of time. Once inside, it was clear that we were in a mine of some sort. There were barrels on the shore to the left and some had fallen off of the land, oozing their contents into the water. Large metal boxes lined the wall of that same shore and a couple were suspended from the ceiling. On the right cave wall, a small waterfall rushed out of the rock and contributed to the ocean water in the cave. The boat with my teammates in it was parked at the end of the cave opposite to me.

I swam over and climbed aboard, pulling the bag off of the face of whoever was closest to me.

"Hiei?!" the fairy onna shrieked as soon as I had untied her gag.

"Calm yourself or I'll put this bag back over your head," I growled. I cut the ropes on her hands and then moved on to the next person—Kurama—while she untied her feet and also began freeing our partners. When I had reached the last person on my side of the boat—unfortunately the oaf—I glanced over at her side and found that we had come up short. "Where is my charge?"

"Larsen took her," said the leopard. "Natla wanted her to be kept separate from us. I heard water splashing…."

_Why would there be water splashing if they had a boat? _

"There is a tunnel at the top of the waterfall, Hiei," the fox supplied. That was helpful, but how would we get up there?

A survey of the surrounding room proved fruitless as there was only us, the boat, and numerous crates with _Natla_ spelled in blocky letters on the sides. This mine was no doubt owned by Natla Technologies. I scanned the room again and then saw—Was there a glow behind the waterfall? Was it a trick of the light? No, there definitely was a glow coming from behind the cascading waters.

"There are lights behind the waterfall," I told Kurama and left him with the task of leading the group there.

The tunnel inside wound upward to the top of the waterfall, every once and a while possessing the remains of coal that had been transported through there some time ago. It was not difficult to climb from the top of the falls over to the tunnel Kurama had pointed out which then extended further underground until it opened up into a chamber littered with mining equipment. The corridor I had been following continued out the opposite side of the room, but there was also a second path exiting out the left side of the chamber.

I stuck to the path I had originally been following first, but the walk was not long as the tunnel ended abruptly, being sloppily boarded up and leaving many peep holes for me to see the other side. It was a wider room with various parts of a floor jutting up out of a river of lava below. Every few seconds, a burst of flame would light the room within as well as my face and the tunnel behind me. But since entering that area was currently not an option, I returned to the large chamber and joined my teammates there.

"That hall is a dead end for the moment," I said and glanced to my left where there was a storage house of a couple small crates and a single large one.

"The door is locked," Kurama told me. "And we looked in the control room—" He gestured to the right where there was a flight of stairs leading up into another metal building. "—but everything is currently offline due to the absence of three fuses—one red, one green, and one blue. My guess is that if we find them, we'll be able to operate the crane and perhaps break into the storage house for supplies. We were stripped of ours while on the yacht." He then gestured to a massive metal box suspended above the storage house. "Have you searched the other tunnel yet?"

I shook my head and followed the train tracks that crisscrossed the room down the tunnel that had been to my left when I had entered. A conveyor belt followed the wall beside us; it wouldn't be very useful for transporting things now that it had large sections broken out of it every five to ten feet. However, if I were going to put hide something essential, it would be up there. Now, how would we reach it?

The tunnel led into a room that was divided in half by a fence which the conveyor belt extended over. A glance to the other side of the fence revealed the green fuse that we were looking for lying on the surface of a metal platform. That would explain the need to find a way onto the conveyor belt.

"Score!" I turned toward the detective's excited exclamation and found him sitting atop a coal bucket, holding up a red fuse. "What do I get for finding it?"

"A pat on the back," I scoffed. "Were you expecting a medal?"

"Nah, a pat on the back from you, Hiei, would be just as good as a medal," he said.

I swiped the mechanism out of his hand. "You can rely on the rest of your _friends_ to further inflate your ego, detective. I currently have a charge to find."

I again looked to the coal bucket and focused on the drill beside it. That would be able to break through the barricade on that hall with the lava which was clearly our objective for this level. Unfortunately, the coal bucket was currently on the track and the platform would have to be moved over mechanically in order for the drill to be of any use to us. I then looked at a glass box which was set into the cave wall—a control booth.

"I suppose it's useless to hope that that control booth is accessible," I spoke to Kurama.

"Yes. All three fuses in the main control room are missing, Hiei. That means that every control panel in this area is offline."

"What will this one fuse do without the others?" I wondered, looking to the small object in my hand.

"I don't know; perhaps nothing. We'll have to go put it in its place to find out."

Then that was where I was headed, leaving Kurama to round up the team. Once back to the control room, I placed the fuse in its appropriate area and pressed the button beside it. The box suspended above the storage house moved backwards on the metal limb holding it, revealing an opening that I hadn't noticed before. Returning to the ground, I pushed one of the nearby crates closer to the storage house so I could get onto its roof and reach the opening. It was the beginning of the conveyor belt.

This led me around the corner and across the hall that we had initially entered the chamber from to the portion of the conveyor belt that I had first noticed. There was a yellow, metal crate on this portion and I pushed it to the floor as the rest of the team entered the chamber again.

"Stay with Yusuke," the fox told his charge and then used the crate to reach me.

"This takes us to the room we were just in," I explained as we hopped over the gaps in the belt. "The end will take us over that fence."

"What's on the other side?"

We jumped onto the end of the conveyor belt and looked down into a pit with a drilling machine cutting away at the ground and coal buckets lining the rock wall.

"A deep hole and the green fuse, what were you expecting?"

"Perhaps something a little more complicated; the fuse isn't even _in_ the deep hole. Though I suppose a break every once and a while isn't so bad. I'll wait here to pull you back up."

I dropped onto the metal platform below and grabbed the fuse before taking another look down into the pit. Pipes wove in and out of the walls and spit steam every few moments, meaning that the drill below was fully functional. A rat near a metal box was what caught my attention. Why? Because it was running around with a bright blue object in its mouth.

"If only we really did get a break," I said as Kurama aided me in climbing up to the conveyor belt. "The blue fuse is in the pit."

"Do you see a way down that isn't one-way?"

I nodded and pointed to the far right corner of the pit. "There's an opening about halfway down in the corner. There must be another tunnel that we haven't discovered yet."

We took the same route back to the main control booth, placed the green fuse where it belonged, and then pushed the button nearby. This time the crane swung its arm outward so that the suspended crate was now hanging above the railroad tracks below.

"A lot of good that did," the wolf complained.

Kurama put a hand to his face in thought and left the control booth, meandering his way below the crate and analyzing the box from different angles. "Hiei," he called after a couple minutes. "What did you say was down this hall?"

"The path is blocked; it's a dead end," I replied irately. Hadn't he been listening before?

"Then we haven't been on this conveyor belt," he said, pointing to the short section.

"Are you lost? No, we haven't. We can't reach it and it doesn't go anywhere."

"Your concern for Kat is blinding you, Hiei." I growled at him for even suggesting that I would be _concerned_ about anything, let alone that baka onna. He chuckled and pointed to the end of the section where there was a camouflaged opening. "There _is_ a tunnel there. Now, the red fuse moves the crate back and forth, correct? If we push it again, it's bound to move the crate closer to _that_ stack of crates over there. If we can get onto the one in the air, we'll be able to get to the conveyor belt and that tunnel."

I frowned at myself for not noticing that and then turned back to the team. "Oaf, make use of yourself and go push the button by the red fuse."

"Hey Squirt, you can't order me around like that!" the idiot cried.

"Your friend is missing and you're just now getting angry about how I speak to you? Your even slower than I thought. Go push the damn button or I'll throw you down a deep pit after the blue fuse."

He walked back to the control room, sulking about how mean I was and about how he missed the onna's leadership. But he was obedient and pushed the button. Just as Kurama had thought, the suspended crate moved closer to the stack of crates on the ground so Kurama and I could climb up them and reach the conveyor belt.

The tunnel cut into the rock wall about seven feet before it branched forward and right. The forward branch took us out above the pit again, but it was higher than the metal platform I had been standing on when I found the green fuse so it wasn't helpful. The right branch took us to two ladders going down which then took us to the opening in the corner I had noticed from the platform.

"The ground slants," I told the fox. "I should be able to drop onto the incline and ride it to the floor. Wait here. I don't know how I'll get back."

The rat had disappeared during the time that we were finding a route down (I was guessing through the rat-sized hole in the wall), but it had left the fuse behind. After pocketing it, I began planning my route back up to where Kurama was waiting for me. A metal box-shaped piece of the drill gave me a step up to a steaming pipe that could support my weight. I dodged the steam coming out of a second pipe nearby and then used it to reach a very small ledge above—only big enough for me to stand on.

The drilling mechanism had a flat piece attached to its side which slowly revolved as the drill worked through the tough soil. I jumped out and grabbed onto this, rode it over to where the coal buckets lined the wall, and used the buckets as leverage to make the jump backwards to the bottom of some sort of metal storage bin. There was another pipe to the side of the bin that would help me reach the top, but it wasn't until my shoulder was burnt by the steam bursting from the pipe that I noticed it. I timed the explosions of searing vapor and climbed to the top of the pipe and the storage bin.

"There's a ledge behind you, Hiei," Kurama supplied. "It will be easier to jump to me from there than that bin."

I glanced over my shoulder and caught sight of the ledge he was referring to before I sprang off of the bin and flipped around to it. He was right—the jump from that ledge was much easier than jumping around the corner of the bin. We returned to the conveyor belt by way of the ladders and tunnel and from there returned to the control booth.

The blue fuse caused the crane to drop the suspended box down to the ground and then bring it back up a few moments later.

"Just what we needed," Kurama said. " Let's move it back over the storage house."

He pushed the button near the green fuse, then the one by the red fuse, and finally the one by the blue fuse, obliterating the roof to the storage house. Now we just had to pull a crate over there to climb in.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

_It's so dark. Where am I? What happened? All I remember is Larsen knocking me out cold after I bit him…. What is that horrid screeching sound? It's like metal grinding on metal….something….mechanical. No, wait…. now it's stopped. It's so silent now…. _

_CRASH!! _

I screamed and covered my ears at the squealing of metal giving way under too much weight. The ground shook and debris rattled around me. What the hell was going on? It became quiet again and I strained my ears for any sign of what was happening.

"This….onna's….is she?" I recognized the muffled voice instantly

"Hiei?!"

"Onna?"

"Hiei!"

Suddenly light streamed into where I was being held and, being temporarily blinded, I shielded my eyes and bruised face with my hands.

"Sit up."

I clumsily pushed myself up with one elbow and Hiei's arms encircled my waist, hauling me out of my prison.

"Where am I?"

"A storage house," answered Hiei and he handed my backpack to me. "They were keeping you in a crate."

"A crate? What am I, a dog?" I thought over what that could imply and what the answer could be from Yusuke and Kuwabara. I could indeed be a female dog to them, not only because I was a fox. "Don't answer that."

"Here we go!" cried Christy, digging through another crate. She triumphantly held up her whip, Kurama's whip, and Hiei's katana. After handing them out, she returned to digging for a moment. "Oh, and here's your guns, Kat!"

"What about mine?" asked Yusuke.

"Sorry, that's all there is."

I ignored his pathetic slump and climbed on top of the crates and out of the demolished roof while the rest of the team busted open the other crates, gathering up various types of medi-packs, ammo, and other supplies. Hiei followed after me and I knew he was scrutinizing the bruise on my face.

"Fill me in," I requested, trying to distract him from asking what had caused me to bite Larsen and get that bruise. He would go ballistic if he found out that Larsen was trying to feel me up. "What have you done and what are we trying to do?"

"We went in search of three fuses to operate that crane and dispose of the roof on the storage house. Now that we've done that and found you, all the other control booths in the area will be functional." He paused in walking and then turned so he was following some railroad tracks down a hall. "There's a drill down this tunnel and it will be able to remove the blockage from that tunnel." He pointed to the opposite end of the tracks. "Now that the controls will work, we can move it onto the tracks."

"Sounds like you're starting to warm up to the idea of being the head tomb raider. Better not tell Dusty that or she'll be mad that you're trying to take her job as second in command."

He shook his head. "What happened to your face?"

"Don't worry about it."

"It's my job to—"

"Protect me, I know." I gave him a reassuring smile that made him uncomfortable and had him looking for something else to focus his attention on. "Just don't leave me again and we'll be fine."

We entered a chamber that was divided in half by a fence and had a coal bucket currently situated on the tracks. The drill that Hiei mentioned was sitting beside it, but currently not functional.

"We'll have to get into that control booth. Is the door above that ladder unlocked?" I asked.

"Not likely."

"Then we'll have to find another way in."

I was about to blast through the glass with my recently reclaimed guns when a large rat waddled up to us and stared at Hiei, absolutely motionless.

"What?" he demanded of it—of course not expecting it to answer. "Unless you have a death wish, go find something else to bother. I don't have to use my katana to kill a rodent like you."

I would have thought that even rats had a brain bigger than Kuwabara's, but I was wrong. Whereas _he_ might have kept his distance, the rat charged after Hiei as we walked away and latched onto his pant leg.

"Wish granted." Shaking it loose, he whipped around and kicked it up into the glass window of the control booth, shattering it completely.

"Wow, nice work," I laughed and crawled on top of the drill to get inside.

He was still slightly shocked that that rat did such damage. "I only wish that were Kuwabara's head."

"Yeah, well, you should be glad it wasn't or you'd be in for it now, shrimp." Kuwabara had just announced the team's arrival.

I searched the various buttons and levers on the control panel until I found what I thought was the correct lever to change the machinery. Sure enough, the platform that the coal bucket and drill were on slid over so that the drill would now be operational.

"Keep off the tracks, guys, the drill's coming through," I called and hopped down to the controls on the drill.

I started it up and rode it slowly off down the hall and back out into the big, main chamber. It wasn't until I rounded a bend in the track that I noticed the crane had moved so that the crate it had been holding was now down, blocking the path. I hit the brakes on the drill and shut it off, stepping down to go check the control booth. But then none other than Larsen stepped out from behind a stack of crates on the floor with a blue fuse in his hand. I smirked when I noticed the bandage he had on that arm.

"Sorry darlin', this is the end of the line," he drawled and put the fuse in his back pocket. I could hear several of my teammates behind me growl at his presence.

I rolled my eyes at this cowboy's insistence to try and have control over me. "Just hand it over, Larsen. This has nothing to do with you."

Larsen snorted at that. "What's it got to do with _you_? The Scion belongs to Natla. Face it, you've got no business here."

He talked like it was no big deal that a powerful and potentially dangerous artifact was in the hands of an inhuman madwoman. And what did he know about _my_ business? I wasn't even who he thought I was. I wasn't Lara Croft, I was just a girl trying to get home and I couldn't do that if I couldn't get around this idiot and take down Natla.

I shook my head. "I don't have time for this." For added effect, I drew my guns. "Get out of the way or you die."

Again he snorted disbelievingly. "Whacha gonna do? Shoot me? Come on, Lara, I just work here. Now I know how bad you want this, but I can't let you pass. We both know you're not gonna _kill_ me fer it." I hesitated and my guns wavered uncertainly. Could I really do it if he didn't listen? "That's just not who you are."

That little sentence hardened my resolve and my hands tightened on the grips of my guns. "I'm not who you think I am."

His smiled faded and turned into an unsure frown. I fired and he dodged just in time, drawing Dusty's shotgun along with Yusuke's as he rolled to his feet. I wasn't going to give him the chance to use them, though. I slowly approached, daring him to try, and when he did, I fired my left gun at his left shoulder. He stumbled back a bit, but went for the trigger again. I beat him to the punch and fired my right gun at his right shoulder. Now he could only stand to hold one shotgun and he dropped Yusuke's, holding Dusty's up with both hands, preparing to fill me full of lead. I pulled the triggers of both handguns simultaneously and didn't notice where the shots sank in, only that Larsen fell.

I could hear his ragged breathing as I stepped up in front of him and I knew that one of those shots had punctured something vital. My guns wavered again, but it was too late to stop it now. Larsen reached for me with one hand, a pleading look on his face and then he collapsed onto his back, lying completely still.

I holstered my guns and kneeled down beside him, rolling him onto his side a little to reach his back pocket and retrieve the fuse. Then I deposited the fuse into my backpack, but as I was pulling my hand back, a few strands of my hair got stuck to my hand and I curiously looked at my palms in search of why.

Dark crimson liquid coated my palms, sticky and staining my pale skin. Horrified, I desperately rubbed my hands across each other, trying to flick it off and finally just wiped my palms on my shorts. Staring at Larsen's corpse gave me a nauseous feeling in my stomach, but I couldn't look away and instead I just stood there limp until Kurama laid a hand on my shoulder.

I was jolted from my shocked trance and spun to face him, still feeling like I would retch at any second. His face was sympathetic while Hiei's was stoic, but a look at my alarmed other friends sent me over the edge and I shoved past them, running as fast as I could to anywhere but there.

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

I moved to go after her, but Kurama held me back saying, "Wait. Perhaps we should…." Even he was at a loss for words.

"Let her be alone for a while," I finished for him. He nodded and I glanced in the direction she had run, noting what tunnel she had used. "Fine. Let's move the body and then we'll go look for her."

* * *

When we finally found her again, we had trekked all the way back to the base of the waterfall and she was huddled by the opening to the cave. Her lips were purple from the cold mist and her hair was in strings clinging to her face. The lack of color to her skin gave her a half-dead look, but she just sat there, staring horrified at the cave wall.

We all stood uncertainly and awkwardly silent, unsure of what to do or say. Fortunately, she spoke first.

"How can you do it?" she asked in a watery voice.

"Do what?" asked Kurama as I crouched beside her. She didn't clarify, instead burying her face into her knees.

"Onna, look at me." She didn't respond and I attempted to raise her face, but she refused. "Look at me."

"I can't!" she cried. "Your eyes are the color….the color of is blood." She sniffed and took a shaky breath. "How can you kill and not feel guilty?"

Ah, that was a question only I could answer. I only had to glance at Kurama and he understood that I wanted them to leave. He herded the others back up the tunnel and I sat beside Shorty.

"How….?" she began again and shivered. After a moment, I put my arm around her and pulled her the slightest bit closer to me. That was a good way to comfort a female, wasn't it? She didn't protest, at least.

"I grew up in the Makai, onna. There you have no choice; if you don't kill, no one will show you mercy and you will be killed instead."

She whimpered and curled in tighter on herself. I sighed and leaned back against the rock wall, contemplating a different approach. Eventually I proceeded in a softer tone that I only reserved for Yukina, "I can't even remember most of the faces of those I've slaughtered. The ones that left an impact on me were the ones who begged for their lives….so they could return to their families. I didn't have a family so I felt no sympathy for them, but it always made me wonder…." I looked at her and realized that wasn't helping either; comforting was not one of my strong suits. I was, however, incredibly good at being _brutally_ honest. "You're much more innocent than I am. This will stick with you for some time…."

She sniffed again and brought her hand up to her face. "It won't come off. His blood's on my hands and it won't come off. Is this going to haunt me forever?"

I looked down to her hand. The skin was red, not from blood, but from her scrubbing so hard to get it off. She was completely imagining that it was still there, but perhaps it would be a comfort to her to know that she wasn't bearing the guilt alone.

I took her left hand and brought it to my face. "No."

Then I brushed my lips over each fingertip, barely tasting the skin enough to wet it. As provocative as that sounds, I knew she would understand that it was symbolic. I could see the comprehension in her face as I repeated the procedure to her other hand; she understood I was taking the burden from her and she leaned into my shoulder, a microscopic amount of relaxation settling into her muscles.

After all, this monster couldn't feel guilt anymore.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

My sanity returned to me a little at a time with the help of Hiei and after quite a while, we slowly returned to the chamber where the drill still stood ready. I handed the fuse to Yusuke and allowed him to put it back in and raise the crate out of the way. Then I rode the drill across the chamber and into the hall that Hiei told me about. I hopped off right before the machine began busting through the barricade and waited around the corner to avoid flying debris.

The room that was opened was, plainly speaking, a flaming pit of death. It looked as though there used to be a floor with railroad tracks going across, but those had since given way to the ferocious heat of the molten lava only leaving behind several metal support frames and sloping rocks.

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like the levels from now on," said Tiara, an explosion of fiery steam lighting up her face.

"Well, we can't let that stop us," said Dusty and we started across.

We jumped off the end of the tracks first and landed on a metal support to the left. From there, a spire and a couple slopes took us over to a second metal frame where we could see a hook. I backed up a few steps and then stopped myself from jumping.

"Hey, wait, I still don't have my grapple back."

Hiei looked down to his waist in realization and then began the task of trying to make the broken buckle function enough to take the belt off.

Yusuke laughed. "At least you remembered before you tried to make the jump."

"Yeah, another corpse is exactly what we need," I snapped before I could stop myself. I hurriedly took my belt from Hiei and strapped it on so that I could get away from their sad expressions.

The rest of the way over to the other side was not life threatening and as soon as I landed on the tracks again, I grappled onto the metal frame where my friends were still standing and helped them across. The tunnel behind us took us to a very rocky hall that went upward and widened into a cavern, the occasional rumble and spurt of bright light indicating that it also had lava in it. I had a bad feeling and it wasn't coming from that fact that there was lava in the next room. If there was one thing I had learned on this excursion, it was that my feelings were usually accurate and meant something painful for my team.

_I have to protect them. I don't want any of them to have to suffer through what I have. _I looked back at their dirty faces and clenched my fists as I finalized my decision.

"Wait here, I'm going to climb up first and check things out," I spoke to the group.

"Why do we 'ave t' wait 'ere?" asked Tayg.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Just rest for a while, you were doing the work while _I_ was napping. I'll call down if the coast is clear."

The surfaces that were safe to climb were sparse, but there were enough to get me to the opening of the cavern which happened to be about twenty feet above where my team was waiting. Within the cavern was a sloped metal wall with a door at its base and spines covering its slanted surface. Lava spewed out of the walls in tiny streams and carved an exit in the rock layers beneath them. On either side of the opening where I stood was a stone building of some sort.

Standing in front of the door in the slanted metal wall was Kold Kinkade—the giant black man that had threatened my life after we escaped the Sanctuary of the Scion. I nervously drew my guns and entered the cavern, hoping he wouldn't notice me and I could knock him out.

No such luck. "I was hoping you'd show up," he rumbled, turning to me and fingering his vicious-looking knife. "I wanna make you _scream_."

I swallowed the nausea welling up in my throat and held up my guns, shakily retorting, "Unless you want to end up like Larsen, get out of my way."

Instead of being intimidated, he smiled maliciously and said, "It's so good, idn't it? Gets even better. Can't explain it to people." He ran the sharp edge of his knife down his palm and then formed a fist as if it was the best feeling in the world. "They have to _feel_ it."

My nausea returned as I listened to him talk about killing like it was a pleasure cruise. Is this how every killer felt about what they did? It was sickening! What was even more sickening was the thought of if Hiei felt the same way about taking lives.

I pushed the nausea to the back of my mind and raised my guns at Kold. It didn't matter. Hiei was nothing like this sick-o—not to me.

Suddenly the gangster/skater boy who everyone just called Kid stepped around the edge of the stone building, zipping up his fly and grinning excitedly at me. He drew my SMG's and sniggered, "Girl, you gotta be outta yo mind!"

* * *

~HIEI'S POV~

"She seemed anxious," voiced Kurama after the onna disappeared from sight.

"She didn't _seem_ that way, Kurama. She _was_ anxious," Dusty replied.

"But why?" wondered the wolf. "Kat's not scared of anything….except spiders."

"And apparently death," I added.

"You didn't have to bring that one up!" the wolf snapped.

"She knows there's danger up there," I continued. "Something she didn't want _you_ to fight."

"But wha'?" asked the fairy. "Natla, 'er henchmen, mummies, wha'?"

Gunfire rang out overhead and a yell of "She's mine!" was followed by a cry from a young male and a surprised "Oof!" from the onna.

"Something capable of using guns, that's all I need to know," said the detective, but I was already halfway there.

"Stay there, you won't be any help!" I ordered over my shoulder. What good would the majority of them be with no weapons? The last thing I needed was the oaf getting in the way of me saving my charge.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

Kold came at me first, trying to slice through my midsection with his blade, but I was faster than his hulking frame and backflipped out of the way. Meanwhile, Kid started shooting at me and I had to retaliate on him until he disappeared around the stone building before I could focus on Kold again. He had jumped up in front of me, holding his blade point down and trying to impale me, but once again, I had enough time to duck out of the way and reluctantly shoot him in the chest. He went down, but he wasn't out for the count yet. What was this guy made of?

While I was reloading, Kid came out from behind the building and started firing away at me again so that I had to jump sideways behind a boulder to finish reloading. I counted his approaching steps and silently snuck around to the other side of the boulder.

"Not so hard now, are ya?"

I sprang around the opposite side of the boulder and rained hot lead down on him, running toward the cover of the stone building he had used before. I didn't need it because, although he was firing, he was a bad shot and then Kold regained his feet.

"She's mine!" he yelled at Kid and ran him clean through with his long blade. Kid cried out and folded over as Kold swung him off his knife and out of the way. Then he made a dive for me.

I jumped up and over him, using his shoulders as a springboard so I could turn in midair and shoot at him. Still he didn't stay down and I backed up nervously as he charged me, emptying my clips into his body. I attempted to do a quick reload, but I knew before I started that it was a stupid idea.

Kold's hand shot out and wrapped around my throat, slamming me up against the boulder I had used for cover earlier. I gasped from lack of oxygen, instantly dropping my guns and beginning to claw at his hand while he continued to cut off my air supply. However, he wasn't just going to settle for choking me to death and he pulled his other arm back, preparing to stab his knife into my torso.

"_No_!"

There was a slight pause as Kold turned slightly toward Hiei's charging figure and then numerous shots rang out around the cavern. Hiei slid to a stop as Kold's body jerked and then his grip on my throat loosened as he dropped to his knees. Hiei and I looked to each other and then over at Kid whose head and one gun was raised. He shakily took aim at us, but then he dropped back to the ground in a lifeless heap.

"You idiot!" Hiei growled at me and grabbed my shoulders. "Do you have any idea—?"

"Hiei!" He looked taken aback by my harsh tone. "I don't need this right now." He looked to my shaking fists and then let me go, instead storming back to the cavern opening to call the team up.

I went to Kid's body first and retrieved my SMG's, careful not to get any blood on my hands this time. Then I took a crate from the stone building on the left and dragged it over to some nearby rocks. The whole team had arrived on the scene by the time I had made it to the top of the rocks overlooking the slanted metal wall. There was a flat about halfway up the wall and it could be reached by way of some spire jumps on the spines protruding from its surface.

I started out across the spines until I stepped on the third one and it began to sink beneath my feet. In a panic, I jumped off onto the slanted wall and slid all the way down to the ground beside my team.

"The hell was that?" Yusuke laughed.

"Shut up, Yusuke! Spires are bad enough, but when they start spewing steam and sinking beneath you it's a scary thing!" I snapped.

"It's just a puzzle, Kat," assured Kurama. "I'm almost certain you wouldn't have been injured by it."

"What are your clues for this?" I asked.

He pointed to the door in front of us. "That glowing symbol only appeared after you jumped onto that spire." I examined the symbol and then looked back to the spires. If you looked hard enough, you could see that some of the spires were brown and tan and also had tiny glowing symbols on them.

"There are five other spires like the one I stepped on and there's a flat area up there, too. I'll make short work of this."

I clambered back up to where I had unknowingly initiated the puzzle and cautiously made my way across the spine-y surface of the wall, making sure I left enough time to jump onto a stable spire after jumping on one that sank down. The flat area that I had noticed had a switch inside, but I also noticed that there were symbols near the switch that were the same as the ones on the door. I guessed it was for opening the door and could only be used after all six spires were pushed down. Once that goal was accomplished, I then returned to the flat and pulled the switch, raising the monstrous door down below.

I slid down the slanted surface and met gaping faces, staring at the hall beyond. It was long and wound deep underground, but it wasn't all that dark since the metal braces to hold the tunnel up were carved with squiggly glowing symbols and ancient writing. I proceeded into the hall first, hoping to jerk my friends awake by doing so, but they still stood there for a few moments after I had left. I had nearly rounded the first corner when the sound of rushing feet echoed behind me.

It was eerily silent as we listened to each other's footsteps while we walked further into the bowels of the island. The rock around us rumbled and cracked with strain from the lava outside and the hall kept growing brighter until we finally stepped out into a room with lava flowing beneath the floor which was made of mesh grating. There was a closed door to our left and an open one at the other end of the room, but what was interesting—and disturbing—were the three cubicles on both the right and left walls. Inside each cubicle was a pod of some sort growing up the wall, dripping with liquid and looking overall like a fleshy spider.

"They look like…." I paused and Kurama finished my sentence.

"Egg sacs."

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't just a mine?" Yusuke sarcastically spat.

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah, there was a tad bit of Hiei/Kat fluff in this chapter. ....Kind of....I think. I wanted it to be a little on the "different" side of the scale, but it kind of just turned out awkward after I wrote it. Oh well. It would be really nice if someone would at least tell me how I did on that since their relationship is the only thing I'm _really_ concerned about in this chapter. That way, if there's something you guys really think I need to work on, I can fix the future chapters which are a little fluffier. Thanks!!

Please review on this one!!

~Kateracks


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** This chapter is once again dedicated to **Death101- Fox Version** for reviewing an earlier chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Tomb Raider.

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen—Adventure's Dark Persuasion**

I stepped out onto the mesh grating and paused in the middle of the first two pods, waiting for a monster of some sort to pop out. Nothing happened. All was silent except for the bubbling sound of the lava flowing beneath my feet.

"They're not moving," I stated. "I think they're inactive right now."

"That's what they _want_ you to think," said Kuwabara.

"No, really, they're inactive. I remember that in the old game, when they were going to release the creature inside, they would palpitate like a heart." I cast a glance down the rest of the room and took note that all the pods were still for the time being. "Come on, we'll check the door at the opposite end first."

Said door led us out into a tall square room—I would guess, as tall as the room with the Horus and Set statues that we encountered in the Sanctuary of the Scion. A few feet below the ledge that we stood on was where the room had begun to fill with molten rock. I looked back up toward the top of the room in search of a way to get up there and then a small glow caught my eye.

"Hiei, your eyes are better than mine. What is that glow?" I asked.

He stepped to my side and focused on a ledge close to the ceiling. "It's Natla. She has the Scion."

"What's she doing with it?"

He shook his head uncertainly. "She walked away."

I walked to the edge of the ledge and squinted up toward the area where the glow was before. Then there was a bright flash of light and the small glow that I had seen before it grew larger. Suddenly the whole island began to shake then something massive exploded. I fell forward, but Hiei caught me before I toppled into the lava.

"What was that?" Christy called over the earthquake.

I considered where we were and then thought through the storyline of the old game before I answered, "It's The Great Pyramid! The mountain on this island just blew its top!"

The ground gradually calmed and then all that was left was the sound of rising lava. Wait, rising? I peered over the edge and saw that the lava had indeed begun to rise—albeit very slowly.

"Time to climb!" I said, jumping up and helping Kuwabara back to his feet. "Let's go!"

We rushed back into the previous room, only to meet the very inconvenient sight of four of the six pods making a heart-like pumping motion. A katana flashed into existence to my right and a whip snapped to life on either side of my Guardian and I. The four pods burst into fleshy pieces, releasing the two flying mummies and two ground mummies incubating inside.

"We got the flying ones!" announced Christy and she and Kurama easily took the wings off of the beasts and they exploded into obliteration. Hiei and I jumped at the charging ground mummies and also made short work of the newborn Atlanteans.

"Where to now?" Yusuke asked, looking over his shoulder toward the lava pit.

"This way," said Kurama, starting out across the mesh grating. "I think that earthquake jarred the locks on this door."

As usual, he was right and inside was a ladder that led up to an upper level in the pod room. There was a concrete walkway stretching over to the other end of the room where another door waited. However, as we started across the walkway, the ground shook again and awakened the remaining two pods below which also held Atlanteans of the flying variety. Once again, Kurama and Christy took care of those bad boys.

The door at the other end held a hall much like the one we had entered this level from with metal braces holding the passage open and glowing with foreign symbols. That hall deposited us back in the tall lava room about twenty feet above the ledge where we had stood earlier. From our current position, we could make out three egg sacs—one to our immediate right, one further up on the wall in front of us, and one even higher than that on the left wall.

Tiara tapped me on the shoulder and pointed near the egg sac on the right. "Is that a target?"

"Only one way to find out."

I fired a shot at the object she had pointed out and an Atlantean symbol lit up beside it. Cocking my head in confusion, I fired shot after shot at the target until a whole circle of symbols had been set aglow. Then a hoop shot out of a slot above the target and a ledge was spit out of the wall near the pod in front of us. Of course, it was never simple for us and as soon as the ledge was fully out of the wall, one of symbols around the target dimmed and then another. The familiar _thunk….thunk….thunk_ noise of a timer followed the dimming of each symbol and then—on top of that—the pod to our right burst open and a flying Atlantean was released on us.

_Snap!_ One wing fell off of the mummy and it could only flap uselessly as it fell into the burning lava below and disintegrated. I quickly scanned the room and plotted the route before once again shooting at the target until all the symbols were lit. Extremely long supports were in each corner of the room, extending all the way up to the ceiling and the one near where the pod had been had a developed a crack in it from the spindly climbing arms of the pod. I used this crack to get nearer to the hoop and then ran along the wall to the next support where there was another crack. From there, I only had to jump backwards to reach the ledge that the target had activated (still rather unnerving considering I was over molten rock).

Once I regained my breath, I shot a grapple line down to my team to help them up except for Tiara and Tayg whose wings had dried out remarkably fast from all the heat we had been encountering. The second puzzle was exactly like the first—shoot the target, kill the mummy, wall-run, haul everybody else up.

The next was a bit tougher as there were two egg sacs nearby and both hatched once I shot the target. However, that wasn't all. Not only was the puzzle itself tougher (having more steps which involved poles, hoops, and more than one of the corner supports), but this time the ledge jerked and started retreating back into the wall. We all stumbled uncertainly at the sudden movement, and it was at that time that the mummies made their first attack on the person closest to the ledge—Kuwabara—who had also been put in charge of the wounded Lalo.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelled at the same time as Tiara yelled "Lalo!" and dove off the ledge after her friend and beloved Brionian.

She kept her wings tucked until she was within grabbing distance of the two and then she spread them wide, using the warm air currents coming off of the lava to gain some altitude. She cried out at the sudden strain being put on her delicate butterfly wings, but she didn't waver in her flapping, not even when a fireball from the attacking mummies went sailing toward them. It collided with the wall off to the side of them, but another most likely wouldn't miss.

"Kurama, Christy, get rid of those guys!"

They were just about to follow my orders when Yusuke blasted through one of the mummies with his shotgun. When had he gotten that back? I didn't bother to ask and instead took aim at the target in hopes that it would give us more room on the rapidly shrinking ledge. However, Tayg beat me to that. Instead, I turned back to the ledge where I heard a second shotgun begin firing.

"Where did you get that?" I demanded of Dusty who had somehow materialized a shotgun in her hands.

"We took them back from Larsen," she replied unsurely, nodding her head toward Yusuke.

I felt sick for a brief second and then shook it off when I noticed Tiara drawing closer. "Tayg, you're in charge of the target since your guns are more accurate. The rest of you make sure that Tiara gets back here safely with both Lalo _and_ Kuwabara." I gave a pointed look at Hiei who seemed to have a vaguely amused expression on his face. Then I set out to the next ledge that the target activated.

Two poles had shot out above the ledge where we stood and these helped me reach a crack in the corner support which then allowed me to reach a second pole and jump toward the hoop. Tayg's firing paused briefly as I grappled onto the hoop and ran to the opposite end of the wall where I retracted the grapple and jumped backwards to catch a second hoop. The opposite end of that wall held the next ledge and then I set to work helping the rest of the team up.

"Let's _not_ do that again," Tiara suggested breathlessly to Kuwabara as she cradled Lalo in her arms.

"Yeah," agreed Kuwabara and I nudged Hiei in his side when I could see that he was contemplating making a snappy remark.

"This one looks _easier_ anyway," Dusty said, obviously hinting that I had been doing all the work so far. "Just be ready to dodge the fireballs this time."

Hiei gave me a look and I smiled. "Remember what I said at St. Francis Folly? You're older, you have to be the mature one." He decided to pretend like he ignored me and got into a ready position for when the two nearby egg sacs hatched.

Once the mummies were dead, I set out toward the next safe ledge as the one beneath us started to recede into the wall again. A crumbled slant had formed in the support in the closest right corner which I used to reach the first of two poles that had been activated on either side of the target with a slanted ledge in between them. After sliding on the ledge and then swinging on the second pole, I reached a crack in the next support which took me to the next safe ledge and I sent the grapple line down to my team.

The last puzzle was similar to one that we already faced in that there were two mummies to kill and then a hoop appeared on the wall to the right and one on the opposite wall that led to a crack in the support and allowed me to reach another safe ledge where I could help my team up. This ledge did not begin receding, nor did the lone egg sac nearby hatch until Dusty picked up the medi-pack lying suspiciously on the ground.

The hall beyond the ledge was filled with the raucous sound of metal hitting metal and as we rounded the bend, we found out why—there was a trap of three jagged jaws coming from either wall to meet their counterparts in the middle and promising a very gory death. However there was a pause between each repetition and it was just long enough that a pair of us could run between without getting caught.

The next trap also consisted of the three jaws, but there were also three cannon-like projections on one wall before the jaws that shot blobs of lava at the opposite wall during the pause in the repetitions of the jaws. These could be avoided by crawling underneath, though, and soon we were also past that trap. The last one had six of the lava blob shooters before the three jaws and we handled this just like the one before.

On the other side of the last trap, the path had collapsed and become like a ramp leading down into a room beneath us. The gap was much too far to jump and so our only option was to slide down into the clutches of two newly hatched ground mummies. However, as Dusty and I shot at these, two lava balls came flying from the other side of the room and aided in the destruction of the two Atlanteans.

"What the hell?" said Yusuke and we turned to see a second group of Atlantean people standing on the other side. Although they looked more on the human side of the spectrum, they still had the appearance of what we had just destroyed and it must have set Yusuke on edge since he raised his gun to them. At the same time, one of the people in their group raised a fist in the same fashion.

_A doppelganger!_

"No, wait!" I shouted and smacked his arm down right as he pulled the trigger—a load of buckshot flew toward the double and a lava ball flew toward Yusuke. Yusuke's shot hit the floor in front of the Atlantean and the lava ball hit a similar spot in front of the two of us, blasting us off our feet.

"What the _hell_?" Yusuke shouted again.

"If you would have taken a second to _look_ at them, you would have noticed the similarities between them and us and you would have figured out that they're _mirror images_ of us," I scowled. "Look, they have ears and tails and wings, granted without any coverings, but I would have thought that _those_ would have at least caught your attention."

"Sorry, _mom_," Yusuke growled. "I guess I'm just paranoid about Atlantean _mutants_ wanting to eat us!"

"You don't be mean to Kat," Christy told Yusuke as she helped me off the ground. "She's been hurt more than any of us so if she's not paranoid, you shouldn't be either."

"And they're not doing any harm to us as of right now—or they weren't until you shot at them, Yusuke," grinned Kurama.

"So what are they here for if they aren't going to hurt us, huh?" demanded Yusuke.

"Perhaps to help us," suggested Kurama. "The rooms mirror each other, see?" He pointed across the room to a slope where the doubles had slid in, much like the one we had used. He then gestured to a ladder on both the right and left wall and a walkway at either end of the room. He then turned to me. "Am I correct on this?"

"Yeah…I think so," I replied slowly, trying to make myself stay still. I use a lot of gestures when I talk, but it was just weird to watch someone copy me in exactly the way I did everything. "The setup is basically the same as in the other game."

Deciding to use the situation to my advantage, I walked toward a wheel in the middle of the room and my Atlantean double did likewise. We both grabbed a handle and worked together to turn it which extended short ledges under each ladder, only big enough for one person to step on at a time.

I ran to the ledge on my right and climbed the ladder above it to the top where I then had to jump sideways to a glowing crack of sorts which rapidly heated up with steam so that I had to swiftly jump backwards to the walkway before I got burned. Unfortunately, on the end of that walkway was a pressure pad that closed a door at the end of the opposite walkway.

There was an egg sac at the end of either walkway and as I approached the switch at the end of my walkway, it hatched and a flying mummy attacked me. Luckily, I was turned at the right angle when I fired so that my double was in a similar position and helped me dispose of the creature. Then I pulled the switch on my side which re-opened the door on the other side.

I returned to the wheel in the middle of the room and helped my copy turn it and release the ledges again. This time I went to my left and got to the walkway the same as on the other side, but this time when I landed on the walkway, my doppelganger landed on the pressure pad and closed the door in front of me.

Growling in annoyance, I called over to her, "That's it! You've got to go!" She also shook her fist at me and moved her mouth, but no sound came out. I guess her vocal cords weren't developed when she hatched. Speaking of hatching, the pod beside me burst open when I yelled at my copy, but he once again was dealt with by the two of us.

There was another switch on this side which opened a circular pit of lava in the end of the walkway I was on. Grinning in understanding, I jumped back to the ground and turned the wheel again, once more running to the right and jumping from the crack back to the pressure pad. The door once again closed, but I wasn't that mad because my double had once again copied my actions and had fallen to her doom in the pit. I pulled the switch to open the door and returned to the ground for the last time, smiling at my team.

"Talk about being your own worst enemy." They all either rolled their eyes or shook their heads at my horrible attempt at a joke.

Hiei and his double joined me at the wheel and then I ran left and jumped to the walkway once the pit closed. I used my grapple to help my team up from the end of the walkway by the door so that their doubles would be stuck on the ground and wouldn't be closing the door on us.

The hall on the other side of the door took us into a room with a walkway on either wall that ran along the lava in the center of the room. In the middle of the opposite wall was a door which would have to be reached by some other means. It was a good thing that there was a switch on either side of the door if we followed the walkway, but the bad thing was that there seemed to be machinery like horizontal pistons pumping over the walkway. It would take some careful timing to get past….unless, of course, you had wings.

"Tiara, are you feeling better now?" I asked.

"You want me to fly to that switch, don't you?" she said.

I nodded and she sighed, still tired from saving Kuwabara's life and not really resting afterwards. Tayg stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll go fer th' right one if ya get tha' one," he volunteered and she agreed.

Once the switches were pulled, two egg sacs near the lava hatched and Christy and Kurama disposed of them while Tiara and Tayg made their way back. A walkway was now extended and the door was open. I had another bad feeling about that door, but at least I wasn't going into it alone this time.

It seemed like we walked out onto a balcony once we passed through the door. The Scion was glowing on a pedestal with three thrones surrounding it, looking out at a large platform.

"Oh my God," Dusty said.

"Holy sh—"

Kurama laid a hand over his charge's mouth, but even he was agape at the monstrous egg sac suspended above the large platform, pumping like a heart and guarding the exit door to the next level beneath it. I walked to the edge of the balcony and gulped at the sheer size of the pod before looking down past the edge of the platform to the tall room with the lava that we had come from not too long ago.

"You've reached the top, Lara." We turned back toward the door to see Natla standing there, garbed in her Queen of Atlantis outfit, complete with crown and bat-like wings. A squad of mummies was standing at bay behind her, just itching to receive the word to attack us. "There's nowhere left to go but down."

One mummy roared at me. "Y-You're rebuilding the army of Atlantis….?"

Natla walked toward me and then circled around behind me, gesturing wide at the whole area. "This pyramid breeds far more than the soldiers you've faced. With the Scion, I now have the means to create anything I desire."

"What is it you desire, Natla?" I asked.

She stopped her pacing near one of thrones and looked back at me. "It takes three to rule. Tihocan and Qualopec were too weak to destroy what stands in the way of the Seventh Age. But _you_ have the strength to claim this seat beside me." She ran her claws over the stone, sending a shiver down my spine. "Immortality has its price, but what are a few lives to sacrifice for your dreams?" She wasn't only talking about the ones she had already sacrificed, but she was also hinting at what _I_ would have to sacrifice to rule with her. She had started pacing again, but now she stopped in front of her squad, awaiting my decision.

"This is madness!" I pleaded uselessly.

"This is what you've been searching for," she insisted. "The answers you've sought your entire life are in the Scion. Everything you have done has led you to this place. You're here because you belong here, Lara."

The tone that she said my name in was what caught my attention. It was almost as if she knew that I wasn't really Lara. Did she mean that this was why I had been brought to this dimension? Could she really know that or was I hearing something that wasn't really there? Did I belong here?

"_That's_ who you are."

_Am I really? Was I sent here to prove just what sort of a person I am? Is my place right here beside this bloodthirsty woman, ringing in this Seventh Age?_ I looked at my shaking, blood-guilty hands in disgust._ Just what sort of person am I?_

I closed my eyes and swallowed my nausea before looking at my team. "I'm sorry, guys."

Natla nodded at what she thought was my decision. I glared at her and added, _Sorry that I'm about to destroy what we worked so hard for. _Then, with speed I didn't know I possessed, I drew my gun and fired a shot directly at the Scion.

Natla was beyond surprised when the Scion suddenly gave off a spark and began going haywire. She screamed and then charged at me, intent on pushing me over the edge to my death. I shot at her, but it didn't seem to have any effect and she knocked us both off the balcony. Then my adrenaline kicked in and I fired three more times at Natla before hitting a weak spot which allowed me to kick her away from me.

"Kat!", "Katie!", and "Onna!" once again met my ears and I looked back up toward my team to see Tiara preparing to jump after me. But then my attention was stolen by the mesh in the large platform above me. I threw the grapple up as hard as I could and watched as it latched on and jerked my descent to a stop. Then I looked back to where Natla was only to see her disappear into the lava below.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I began the tiring task of climbing up to the top of the platform. Once I was there, I rolled onto the solid ground and breathed deeply before looking back up to the balcony where my team was being silhouetted by the blinding flashes of the Scion. However, they didn't seem to notice this as they were all focused on something behind me.

I turned around just in time to see the egg sac shaking violently and then the bottom split open, dropping out a colossal premature mummy with no legs and missing fingers. Its lower jaw seemed to be unhinged on one side, but that didn't stop it from giving off a deafening roar and setting its livid, yellow eyes on me.

And although there was no doubt in my mind that I should move, I could only stand there horrified.

* * *

**A/N:** That's kind of a cliffhanger. Oops. I hope that doesn't make anyone mad, but I had to end it there or else this chapter would be way too long. I'll try to update on time next week so you guys can find out what happens. ;)

Review if you feel like it!!

~Kateracks


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** All the action-y goodness in this chapter is dedicated to **jasmine** for her lovely reviews. Glad to see you're back and because you asked for a quick update, here you are. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen—The Belly of the Beast**

~TIARA'S POV~

"Somebody help her!" Christy cried, looking over at our battered group for volunteers. "Come on, you guys, this is still a game to Kat. I don't think she understands that she could _die_."

Jeez, if Katie hadn't figured that out yet, she was more oblivious than I was. If becoming a shish kabob for a hungry T-Rex or almost being devoured by a regular sized mummy wasn't enough, I was sure that being slowly digested by an enormous mummy would get the point across.

"And who exactly do you expect to do that? _You_?" snapped Hiei, holding his right arm with his left. When Katie had shot the Scion, he had been caught in the crossfire of several of the stray lightning bolts. "With your ankle and slow reflexes, you would be beyond useless."

"Hiei!" scolded Kurama. "Christy has been plenty of help on this journey. You don't need to be harsh."

"I'm not being harsh, I'm being brutally honest. She is not in the condition to fight something of that size and the rest of us are all injured or exhausted. Someone needs to tell your brainless wolf the truth since _you_ certainly haven't been," Hiei retaliated.

Uh-oh, this was going to a very bad place. Before the boys could get into a skirmish—or worse, Christy got involved—I decided to butt in.

"I _really_ don't think this is the time to attempt to lower Christy's self-esteem, Hiei," I inputted, watching worriedly as the mummy began to drag itself toward Katie and she still stood completely immobile in terror.

With an annoyed sigh, he drew his katana and backed away from the edge of the balcony. He turned his attention to Katie as she only began to back closer to the edge of the platform and then he murmured, "Is it any surprise that I wanted to kill off the ningen race?" before he ran and jumped to the aid of our friend.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

I knew I was getting dangerously close to falling over the edge of the platform and meeting the same demise as Natla, but I couldn't gather the courage to fight this monster. It was slow enough, but over the course of this journey, I had developed a new phobia of deep holes, supposedly extinct creatures, death, and mummies and I currently only had one gun. It didn't occur to me at the time, but when Natla had charged me, I had dropped one gun onto the ground to grab her wrist and stop her from choking me.

I stopped short when I heard something hit the ground behind me and I turned in time to see Hiei land right on the edge of the platform and then the ground crumble beneath his feet. At least he had the presence of mind to grab the ledge with one hand. I ran over to help him up as the beast behind us drew ever closer.

He glared up at me when I offered my hand to him. "If this game becomes the death of me, I will come back and seek my revenge on you first."

"Yeah right, _I'll_ die if you die." I didn't take into consideration how romantic that sounded, but it was true. I would already be dead several times over if it weren't for his guardianship. I pulled him back up to solid ground and then took note of his wielding his katana with his left hand.

"What are you doing here if you can't even hold your sword in the right hand?" I asked as we began sidestepping the approaching creature.

"Not that my skills are any less perfected with my left hand, but your friend thought you wouldn't be able to do this on your own."

I smiled nervously. "Hm, she could be right."

"I don't suppose you have a plan?"

"I guess we should just try circling and attacking it." Hiei gave me an almost incredulous look. "What?"

He shook his head. "There was a time when I thought you were one of the smarter ningens I had met…."

"Screw you then, if you don't want to try my awesome plan," I huffed dramatically and then ran to the right of the beast while Hiei took the left side.

Bullets were a lot less effective in enraging something of that size when they were only streaming from one gun, but between that and Hiei's slashing at its lower extremities, the overgrown Atlantean finally succumbed to our plan. Using a great deal of strength to push itself into the air, it then raised its fists, preparing to crush us when it hit the ground.

Of course, if you had something that immense hovering in the air over you, your adrenaline would kick on like mine did. I raised my lone gun and sent several bullets into one large, yellow eye.

Howling in pain, the mummy grabbed its eye and then performed a clumsy somersault, trying to land on its bottom end again, but instead flipped itself right over the edge of the platform. Unfortunately, it, like Hiei, also had the presence of mind to grab onto the edge with its right hand. After a second of rubbing its eye, it began using its left hand to pull itself back up and we set to work trying to loosen its grip.

We weren't fast enough.

Like before, the beast used a great deal of strength to unexpectedly push itself into the air and land back on the platform. The quaking ground caused Hiei and I to lose our footing and so neither of us noticed when the beast's hand began groping around on the ground near us.

I looked to Hiei to make sure he was ready to go again and try to get the creature to flip farther over the ledge this time, but when I turned, his eyes widened and he cried, "Onna!" I felt my ankle get pinched between two gigantic fingers and then I was flipped upside down.

"Hiei!" I yelled in a panic. I wasn't sure what this new version of the monster mummy could do, but I was certain that it was perfectly capable of killing me in one movement.

The beast almost seemed to laugh as Hiei uselessly cut away at its lower half and then it turned its head to me, opening its wide mouth and dropping me in.

Not many kids my age know a lot about the anatomy of bodies, but then again, most kids my age had not been exposed to hospitals as much as I had. At any rate, I'm sure everyone knows that after food goes into your mouth and you swallow it, it has to pass down the long tube of your esophagus in order to get to your stomach where it will digest. The thing about being swallowed by a premature mummy is that it doesn't take that long to get to the stomach because the esophagus wasn't fully formed. So it was just like I went down the throat and splashed right into the digestive juices which immediately began slowly eating away at my flesh. Fortunately, I was smart enough to hold my screams in because I'm sure swallowing the substance would have sped up the digestive process.

I could hear Hiei outside, cutting away at the rubbery skin to free me, but to no avail. How could I get out of this if my Guardian couldn't save me? I was guessing that giving the freak heartburn wouldn't affect it much considering not all of its body parts were intact so it was probably ignoring a lot of pain already. Maybe I could get it to throw up!

It was a good thing that I kept a hold on my gun this time. I raised it above my head, hoping I had turned right side up like I thought and pulled the trigger. But as I mentioned before, one gun wasn't as effective as two and, as I attempted to blast my way to freedom, I could feel the digestive juices eating through my bandages, getting closer and closer to an open wound that would lead to my death.

* * *

~THIRD PERSON POV~

Kuwabara was the first to take it upon himself to help his devoured friend. He picked up Kat's dropped SMG and pointed it at the Atlantean's head—hopeful thoughts in mind, as always. He didn't figure that it had any ammo left, but he still willed it to go off and pulled the trigger.

Fire erupted from the barrel, stunning him for a moment before he excitedly took aim at the head again and emptied the clip as fast as he could.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

The mummy's body suddenly shuddered around me and then everything heaved upward and I was expelled out onto Hiei in a glorious shower of vomit. He fell flat on his back, but had no sooner hit the ground when he rolled us sideways and the mummy's angry fist crashed down into the mesh ground behind us. He then quickly jerked me to my feet and shook me to get my spinning mind to focus on where he was pointing.

"Its hand is stuck. If we can destroy that hand, it won't have a way to pull itself back up when it falls over the edge."

I didn't bother to run another thought process through my head and began firing away at the hand. It wasn't until I wandered closer that I counted only two fingers on that hand and discovered that Hiei's plan was flawless. Despite the mummy pounding the ground in a fit and trying to knock Hiei off his feet, we were able to tear away at the muscles attaching one of the fingers to the hand until it came loose and the monster then freed itself.

"We have to make it punch the ground again," Hiei told me.

"I hope your plan isn't to let it eat me again because you will get a very rude response to that," I stated.

"No, we'll just stand in one area and you'll shoot at it," he supplied, completely serious.

"And you thought _my_ plan was dumb?"

But I didn't doubt that he had the right idea and we stood in one spot while I shot at it until it became enraged and threw a fist down on us, then we dodged out of the way. We went back to work on destroying the attachments to the other finger until it, too, came off and all that was left was a nub at the end of the mummy's arm.

"Lead it back to the edge!" I called to Hiei as I sort of stumbled to the edge of the platform and began shooting the beast in the head to get its attention.

Hiei hacked away at the lower portion of the creature a bit more and then ran to join me while the mummy drug itself behind, becoming more angry by the second. When they both reached me, the Atlantean had gone into a blind rage and somehow pushed itself into the air with its one good arm. It threw its fist down, but we sprung sideways while I shot up into the other eye and the mummy flipped over the edge of the platform, catching itself with its one hand.

I shot away at the hand, loosening the Atlantean's grip one finger at a time while it tried desperately to help itself back up with its bloody nub. Finally only one finger remained, but the mummy had found a stable place to put its nub and had begun bringing itself up to solid ground. Meanwhile, Hiei had grown bored enough with this portion of the fight that he simply sliced downward on the appendage, cutting it clean off and then kicked it over the edge to join its body in the boiling lava below. The mummy flailed and roared pathetically before it sank beneath the molten rock, ending its very short life.

Once the roars had died down, our team cautiously joined us on the platform. Kuwabara proudly, yet still in a slightly shy manner, returned my SMG to me and I smiled gratefully.

"Thanks, Kuwabara."

"Did….you just use his real name?" Yusuke asked.

"Yeah….I know it, I just don't like to use it." I smiled weakly and then grabbed my burning abdomen, sinking to my knees and gasping sharply. Tayg caught me before I hit the ground.

"Are ya a'right, lass?" I gave him a very unconvincing nod.

"We need to find some water to clean that," Kurama said. "Is there any nearby, Kat?"

"There used to be."

"Then we should get going or that will no doubt become worse very quickly."

"Yeah, no sh—" Kurama cast a chastising look to his charge and she corrected herself. "No crap, Kurama, she was almost digested by a skinless giant."

The pain subsided a bit for the moment and I took advantage of the break, leading the team through the door that had been under the egg sac, which had opened after the giant mummy guard fell to its doom.

Lava had worn away at the floor beyond so that there were only two spots still attached to the wall. The first was within jumping distance of the door and the second was just a short hop from there. However, the next portion of the test included two spires standing in the lava river below.

I jumped forward onto the first spire and waved my arms ridiculously to gain my balance when one boot slipped. I then made my way to the next one and called back, "Be careful on the first one, guys, the metal is starting to melt."

The second spire that looked around the corner in the hall was within jumping range of a ledge with a switch at one end. Upon grabbing the ledge, though, an egg sac near the lava burst open so that I had to bolt into a standing position in order to kill the attacking flying Atlantean.

Once the rest of my team made it to the ledge, I pulled the switch, hoping it would bring the ledge at the opposite end of the hall close enough to reach. It did, but not in the way that I would have hoped. The opposite ledge began inching closer, but the ledge we were standing on began receding into the wall.

Gauging the distance, I then began giving orders. "Tiara, Tayg, go! Kurama and Hiei, you guys go next; you can jump the farthest." Once they were across, I nudged Yusuke and Kuwabara to the edge. Next went Christy and Dusty and I went last so as not to strain my wounds too much.

Dusty was the first to continue down the hall, but she soon came running back with a centaur in hot pursuit. Once that issue was disposed of, we preceded down the hall and to our next challenge. The room consisted of a pillar to the immediate right upon entering and a walkway extending to a door on the left and a switch at the other end of the room. The rest of what used to be the floor was now pits with lava. There were also two egg sacs—one on the other side of the pillar and the other in the front left corner near an opening.

We sent Tayg over to pull the switch, knowing that one of the pods was bound to hatch when he did. It turned out to be the one closest to him in the left corner, but since we were prepared, it didn't last long. The switch closed the door that we had entered through and opened the other on the left wall.

A short ramp inside the new door led into a room with a pool in the middle. There were two pods on the left wall—one in each dark corner—and one on the right wall near the front corner where there was a hole in the floor with lava bubbling inside. In the back right corner was a pile of rocks. At the opposite end of the room was a hall, which is where we went first. Inside was a circle of mesh grating that showed the water from the pool underneath.

"This extends past the room, so that means that there's an underwater hall we have to go through," sulked Tiara who was excited about having the use of her wings back.

"Don't worry, you'll get to fly a bit more. We have to figure out how to get down there first," I said and then headed back to the pool. "I guess this will be an opportunity to clean off my wounds." I jumped in, finding the area where it joined the hall, which was blocked off by three circular mesh gratings. Beside the first of these, however, was a switch. I pulled it and then returned to the surface. "What did that switch do?"

"It extended that little ledge," Dusty said, pointing to the back left corner near the overshadowed pod.

We let Yusuke draw out the new Atlantean in the egg sac while Kurama took care of the worst of my wounds. Christy took the liberty of ending the creature's life before Yusuke climbed up into the alcove above the ledge.

"There's a box up here!" Yusuke called back. We heard the scraping of metal on stone and then a loud _Clang!_ as Yusuke pushed it to the walkway of the joining room. We returned to the first room and debated on the purpose of the box.

"I think it's to get on top of that pillar," Yusuke informed us. "See? There are cracks all along the right wall and there's a hoop at the end where that egg sac used to be."

"You're right," I confirmed to which he happily punched a fist in the air. "It's would provide a way for a lone tomb raider to reach that alcove."

"But some o' us can fly," inputted Tayg. "'S time t' cheat, so says I."

"Cheat is such a dirty word," I joked. "This game was built for one and we are many, so it's just using our group abilities to our advantage."

"Tha's th' way," laughed Tayg, slapping me on the back.

He then took to flight which released (and led to the termination of) the remaining pod in this room. Once inside the alcove, we could hear his voice coming from the adjoining room. We ran back down the ramp to find him standing inside the pile of rocks in the back right corner.

"Wha' 'r' th' purpose o' these?" he asked, pointing at a metal plate on the wall and then another above the lava pit and the last in the shadows of the front left corner of the room.

I shrugged and walked to the one in the shadows. I knocked on the metal and felt around the edges before I caught sight of the handholds in the surface.

"Oh! It's a switch like those scarab slider things in Egypt!" I exclaimed and pulled down on the plate, revealing a target behind. Shooting this caused the ground to rumble beneath our feet, signaling that one of the mesh gratings under the water had moved.

The pod above me burst open and a new flying Atlantean was disposed of before Tayg moved to take care of the metal plate near him. The third metal plate—the one above the lava pit—was a bit higher and would take some maneuvering to make the target accessible.

_I don't want to put anyone in danger by having them hang onto that while someone else shoots at it._

"Yusuke, you and Kuwabara go get that box and bring it to the lava pit."

They obeyed and returned a moment later with the requested item (after yelling, "Look out below!" and surfing it down the ramp) and lined it up with the metal plate. I used this to jump to the metal plate and then jumped back to the box so I could see to shoot the target. The last pod hatched, posing only a slight threat of pushing me into the lava pit before Hiei beheaded it.

Now that all three mesh gratings had been moved, we could proceed on our way. The swim was a short one, but enough to keep Tiara and Tayg from flying for the rest of the level. We surfaced in another hall that was slowly being destroyed by the growing river of lava. The earth heaved as we approached the remains of the floor, signaling that the island's condition was worsening as the Scion grew more and more out of control.

"Everything's falling apart!" Lalo stated.

"All the more reason for a sense of urgency, I would say," replied Kurama and urged Christy toward the stream of lava dividing the floor.

Once we rounded the corner, though, things again became increasingly difficult. The hall had caved in on itself and the lava had burst through the walls, forming miniature waterfalls that ate at the way down and also our way out on the lower floor. Fortunately, part of a ladder still remained on the right wall which served to begin the descent to the remaining floor.

"Follow me down," Hiei commanded, stepping in front of me and examining the situation. He seemed more at ease around the extreme heat than the rest of us anyway.

He started out by jumping toward the ladder first and climbing to the top. There was a hole to his left and a crack above that which was closer to the metal braces supporting the remains of the hall. He was just about to jump over to the hole and use it as a step up when it suddenly spewed out a geyser of searing steam. A few seconds later, it did it again, but Hiei was already up and over it, hanging onto the crack above which also began to glow under his hands from the lava on the other side. He instantly jumped left to the metal brace as the crack, too, blew out steam behind him.

From his position of hanging on the brace with his feet planted into the wall, he turned back toward us. "The floor is beginning to sag under your weight, you fools."

I stepped to the edge next and looked down upon the river of lava, the sweltering heat billowing up into my face caused sweat to trickle down my cheek. Would I be able to make it across? I was feeling really feint and overheated, my legs threatening to buckle at any minute. My wounds were still burning despite the medicine Kurama had put on them and that jump was looking farther and farther away.

_Come on, Kat, we're almost done. Just hold out a little bit longer._ But my feet still didn't move.

"Onna," Hiei growled, now across the hall on a ledge under the opposite side of the brace. "Your other mindless friends may continue to stand there until they die, but I didn't suffer my way here through _their_ company to lose you now. Stop gaping and start climbing."

That spurred me to action and I followed his path over to the second brace while he resumed moving to the ground floor by jumping backward to a crack on the other side of a small lava cascade. From there, he could safely drop to a small portion of the ground floor that was left attached to the wall. There were only two other circles of the floor spread out in the river of lava and they led over to some cracks in the wall near two recently formed spires. The floor above us began to crumble a little bit more, but our team had already started the path down to join us.

Hiei and I jumped out onto the first of the stone circles which bobbed in the lava under us and started to sink. "Whoa!" I shouted and we hurriedly jumped to the second circle which also started to sink and then the cracks in the wall as the stone circles bobbed back into existence. "Be careful there, guys! The stones sink!"

The spires took us through another steam geyser and a pole which then took us to a third circle of floor which, like the others, began to sink. A short hall took us to the last of the stone circles in a pit of lava near a ladder. The hall above took us to a room with no obvious exits, but a bunch of pillars with glowing Atlantean symbols, proclaiming foreign messages. There was a square hole in the ceiling far above that lit a blue colored square on the floor.

_The final confrontation._

"Guys," I turned to the group and put on a very serious expression. "This is the final battle. No matter what happens, I want you to stay in this hall."

"Why?" asked Yusuke.

"It's just a battle that I have to handle myself. You know how that goes, eh, Urameshi?" He nodded his understanding and my other teammates nodded their reluctant agreement to my request.

I turned and entered the room, looking to the ceiling as I did so when a red creature made its entrance from the square hole. Who would you guess it to be, but none other than Jacqueline Natla, the former Queen of Atlantis. Although, now it appeared that she was naked, her hair made of flames, and she had no skin….or perhaps that she was wearing some weird form of sinewy Atlantean armor that had grown from her own skin. It looked as though it had been burnt onto her figure, the color being a darkened red with symbols from the ancient Atlantean language carved into its surface; the tissue that also seemed to be present in the armor criss-crossed over itself and pulsed with the life force and glowing fire of rage rushing through Natla's own veins.

My hands twitched near my holsters in anticipation of the impending fight, but I wouldn't draw them yet. Not until I could see the whites of her eyes, as General Prescott said, because then there would be no way I could miss. But her eyes actually had no whites and were just blazing red orbs.

"Thousands of years I've waited for this moment," she raved furiously. "Do you realize what you've _done_?!" I made no reply. It wouldn't have mattered if I did. "That blood on your hands—do you think that it was for the good of man, or for your own selfish desire? Look inside yourself, Lara. Your heart is as black as _mine_."

_Now!_ Without a word, I drew my guns and shot through one of her bat wings, causing her to scream in pain and fury. Then, with speed only Hiei could rival, she darted sideways and around a pillar. There she paused and then she darted away again, cackling maniacally as she disappeared around another pillar. Suddenly I was knocked off my feet and before I had barely picked myself off the ground, I was pushed over again.

_Where is she?!_ I lay on the ground for a moment, just listening to the wind rush by me and trying to pinpoint her location. There was a lot of echoes from my team murmuring to each other and shifting their positions nervously.

_There!_ My eyes flew open and I rolled to my left as a pair of sharp wings pierced the air where I was just laying. I kicked up into her side and then sprung to my feet, shooting again at her wounded wing until I made a fair sized hole. Again she screamed at me and tried to take flight, but only having only one wing made that very difficult and before she could escape, I shot out her other wing, dropping her facedown like a lifeless doll.

I cautiously approached her prone figure with my guns trained on her head when she slowly turned in my direction. It was this movement that drew my attention to a faint green glow from an orb in her back, pulsing with some sort of life force. It was this minor distraction that allowed Natla the second she needed to jump to her feet and grab me around the throat, the sudden action causing me to choke on my surprised gasp.

"I cannot die, you fool," Natla sneered into my face and then tossed me aside, grinning maliciously. "Sooner or later, you'll run out of bullets."

I suddenly found myself leaping out of the way as she opened her palm toward me and began showering the area with lava blobs. These were slower than her aerial attacks, though, so it was much easier to dodge and shoot at her until she was angry enough to charge. She used her super speed to run around behind me, but she couldn't keep the sound of her footsteps hidden and as she drew closer, I turned and ran toward her, jumping over her head at the last second. Once she was behind me and her sharp wings out of the way, I arced my head back and shot a bullet into the back of her cranium.

It only served to stun her, but as it did so, the green orb shined brighter and I shot at it, causing Natla to double over, holding her chest and breathing raggedly. She turned her head to glare and then she was suddenly in front of me, her wings lashing out as I tried to reload my guns and knocking them and the new clips from my hands. She then leapt toward me with a boost of super speed, but I was already dodging sideways to reclaim my guns. Instead, she met the pillar behind me and kicked off of it to hurl herself back toward me….

I drew in a sharp breath and was given a flashback to the spiked log incident with the T-Rex in the Lost Valley. Only this time, I had a wing piercing either side. Natla held me up and grinned evilly into my face before flinging me off of her wings and into the same pillar she had bounced off of earlier, which rocked unsteadily behind me.

"What have you really accomplished here?" Natla demanded, but I didn't answer, instead looking up through the hole in the ceiling that showed a view of the clear, blue sky outside. It was refreshing, but then Natla broke back into my thoughts. "Nothing! Only a temporary stay of execution for your kind. This island is only one remnant of Atlantis. I will find another. But you—you will have lost _everything_!"

She dove at me again and, with a breath of the fresh air wafting into the room, I dodge rolled sideways, grabbed my gun, and shakily raised it toward her head….

Only to realize that it wasn't loaded and that the clip was several feet away. I turned back toward Natla as she stood to her feet after once again meeting the pillar. But this time, her glare wasn't focused on me. The missing clip was slid into my gun and a warm hand wrapped around mine, steadying my aim. I smiled in relief and squeezed the trigger.

Natla grabbed her face in pain and Hiei pointed toward the wobbling pillar above the former queen. Kurama's voice behind us spoke, "It says, _The power of the Scion rules the black heart_."

"Atlantis take 'er!" shouted Tayg.

I threw my grapple up toward the top of the pillar and then my team helped me pull the power of Atlantis and her previous just rulers down upon the corrupt queen. She screamed as she was crushed under the weight and then all that was left was the rumbling of the pyramid as the Scion continued to destroy it.

_You will have lost _everything_!_

I looked back at my team and smiled before looking toward where the fallen pillar was. "No….I haven't."

A rock fell from the ceiling, pushing another pillar into the wall where it busted a hole and revealed a path behind. We used this pillar as a ramp up to the exit and broke into a run (or in my case, a fast stumbling limp) as the pyramid behind us began exploding into flames. In fact, the force of this explosion followed us all the way outside, blowing us off of a cliff and into the ocean where Natla's yacht waited a short distance away.

I wouldn't be swimming this distance on my own, though. The cold water splashed over my body and the pain of saltwater invading my wounds sucked the air right out of my lungs. I was then aware of just how exhausted I was and even though I feebly kicked my legs, I was starting to sink below the surface.

"Onna, you can't sleep here," Hiei objected, wrapping his arms around my torso and tugging me toward the boat.

With my last ounce of strength, I lifted a hand to my face and smiled when the mental stain that I had been seeing there was no longer present. And even though the water was sloshing over us from the quaking of the island and the sunset was beautiful, I just couldn't stay awake, not even when I heard the motor of the yacht fire up. I just didn't care anymore.

After all, the first adventure of Lara Croft may have been history, but we were not yet finished.

* * *

A/N: Well guys, this story is almost over. There is only one really long chapter after this one and then an epilogue before it is the end. I may be willing to write a short one-shot afterwards if you guys think you'll really miss this or if there's something you would like to see that wasn't in here. Let me know!

Review if you feel like it!! I accept anonymous reviews.

~Kateracks


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** This chapter is dedicated to **jasmine**. I am very glad that you have stuck with this story. Thanks for encouraging me!! However, this chapter has a two-way split dedication with **Valinor's Twilight**, a new reviewer!! (Clapping) I am very glad that you're enjoying the story so far. I hope it holds your interest until this chapter. :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, Tomb Raider, the Gummy Bear Song, Vodka, whiskey, or any of the other drinks mentioned in this chapter. I do, however, own O'Malley's Pub where you might get those sort of drinks. You'll understand all of that later. ;D

* * *

**Chapter Twenty—The True Final Confrontation**

I had awakened next to an exhausted Hiei on a pile of clean laundry. Apparently all the other cabins had been taken so this was the only room we could stay in. Hiei said it had been where he had stowed away when he came after us. We hadn't moved from the room at all and had spent our time together speaking about random things for hours until one of us returned to sleep's embrace.

"So who is she?" This time I dared to ask about Mukuro. Can you blame me? I wanted to know! "Yusuke keeps mentioning her in the same conversation as you. Is she someone important to you?"

Hiei leaned back on the laundry and closed his eyes. "She _was_ a lord of the Makai."

"_Was_?"

"Hn. There's only one ruler now because of the tournament the detective arranged. A friend of Yusuke's ancestral father won his match against Mukuro because I wore her down in _our_ match. He became the king."

"So you met her at a tournament?" I was hopeful that she was just an acquaintance that Yusuke was reading too much into.

"No." _Damn ._ "She got word of my power and asked me to join her in her takeover of the other territories after Yusuke's ancestral father died."

"She needed strength? If she was a lord, didn't she need to be strong herself?"

"She is. I'll admit—grudgingly—that she's stronger than I am. She resisted the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

"Oh." Hiei was into powerful women? That counted me out.

"She knew she was stronger than me so she trained me—hard—before she began her takeover."

"_She_ trained you?"

"With the use of her minions. My final test was against Shigure, the man who implanted my Jagan Eye." He held his left arm up for me to look at. "I had to cut my own arm off to kill him."

"But it's still there." There was barely a scar. "Oh! That means you can tell Yukina you're her brother! If that guy is dead, the deal's off!"

Hiei glared at me and I knew I had said the wrong thing.

"Sorry, that was a thought with a mouth of its own."

His gaze dropped to his arm. "Mukuro healed both of us. She needed us for her takeover….and I think she, herself, wanted to fight me."

"Did she? What about Shigure? Wasn't he mad?"

"Shigure fought Kurama in the Makai Tournament and lost. A true warrior can't lose twice so he killed himself because Kurama wouldn't. I was matched against Mukuro. She beat me."

"Well, yeah, if she could resist the Dragon," I said, giggling nervously. I could feel this conversation going to a very uncomfortable place, considering how power hungry Hiei was. "Where is she now?"

He shrugged. "She could be anywhere; she's free. I freed her from her past." He paused and then said, more to himself, "It's strange. She was the only woman I had ever permitted to touch me, and I haven't seen her since I joined the team again."

_Touch? In what way?_ "Wait, if you were allowed to stay in the Makai, why did you come back? I thought you wanted to stay there."

He didn't say anything.

I sat up and smiled at him. "You missed the team!"

"Yes, I missed Kuwabara's stupidity and Kurama's annoying habit of always being right and Yusuke telling his _ningen_ friends our secrets."

My smile grew. "But you did."

"I missed getting permission to kill ningens. I would rather not go to prison for doing what I want."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"Onna," he growled warningly and I shut up. He could clearly tell that I saw through his façade.

It was quiet for several minutes before he spoke again. "What were you dreaming about last night? I heard you mumble, 'Eneco'."

I thought for a minute until it came back to me. "Oh, I had a dream that I had to talk to everyone in Spanish or else they didn't understand me."

"That's stupid. I could never learn that language."

"Yeah, you could. It's nothing like the Makai language, I'm sure, but it's not that hard. You just have to remember to conjugate verbs and change word endings for gender."

He snorted. "Gender?"

"Yeah, like….Zorra is a female fox—that's me. Zorro is a male fox—that's Kurama."

"Hn."

"Uh….Sus ojos son rojos. I changed the ending on rojos so it matched the male gender of ojos."

"And that means….?"

"Your eyes are red."

"All that for a simple statement?"

"Well, some Spanish phrases are shorter than what we would say. Estoy consada means I am tired….for a girl. Estamos listos—we are ready. No se—I don't know…."

I watched him take it in—understanding glowing in his crimson eyes and his mouth twitching ever so slightly into a smile of success at learning something new. It was then that I finally reached a decision to the debate that I had been having with myself on whether or not to tell him of the feelings I had developed for him over the course of this journey. It was now or never. But how would he react?

"Te amos."

He looked at me questioningly, but when I didn't tell him the meaning, he prompted, "What does that mean?"

I took a deep breath and, in a voice just above a whisper, divulged, "I love you."

His head snapped in my direction and he blinked at my deep blush while I suddenly became intensely interested in my swishing tail.

But then—much to my surprise—he began chuckling and then, also in an amused tone, stated, "Who knew ningens could be cruel?"

Mouth agape, I voice, "I'm not lying."

In annoyance, Hiei pinned my nervously wagging tail to the laundry. "That's impossible. You can 't—"

"Obviously it's not because I can, and I do. Just because your culture believed that you couldn't be loved doesn't mean that it's the same here. Love isn't a weakness, Hiei, it's a strength."

It seemed like time had frozen. Neither of us spoke or moved at all except for breathing and blinking. Then, rather suddenly and unexpectedly, Hiei shoved me hard against the laundry and held me there.

"What is with you?" he snarled. "I hate ningens. They disgust me. I take pleasure in gutting one whenever I get the chance. Why do I tolerate you?"

"I don't know," I replied nervously. _Why is he so angry?_ He didn't like that answer, though. He pushed harder on my shoulders and I felt my left one pop. It wasn't out of place, but it still hurt. "A-Am I supposed to know the answer to that?"

I hadn't meant to stutter, but it clued him in that he should release me. However, he didn't move, he just released my shoulders and hovered over me, focusing on the laundry beneath my head.

"What is it about you that's so intoxicating?"

I didn't know what to say to that. No one had ever told me I was intoxicating before. Christy had said I was beautiful in the past, Yusuke had told me I was hot a couple times, and Kurama once told me that I looked lovely, but no one had used such a strong word to describe me as the one Hiei had just used. After a minute, I came up with a response that actually made some sense….to me, at least.

"Maybe it's because I can look through that stoic mask you put on and see who you really are inside. I treat you like a real person instead of the monster that your people told you you were."

"There's no mask, onna, this is who I really am. I'm the Forbidden Child, haven't you been paying attention?"

"Yeah, I have. I've been paying attention to how you treat Yukina and how loyal you are to your friends and how you can let yourself go once and a while and kid around with me. The only reason you were named the Forbidden Child was because you were a fire male born in a land of ice females. Isn't that what you told me?" He nodded slowly. "So what if you are? There are mixed breeds everywhere and no one, but crack pots like Hitler or the Koorime care about that. Look at me—I'm Irish, Scottish, British, and German and I'm proud of it. By the way, the Irish and the Scottish despise each other and I'm now living in Japan, but no one wants to kill me for that. Customs vary from place to place. Here, you're just Hiei."

I quickly shut my mouth when I felt my face heat up. "And thus ends my rant about cultures and ethnicity."

"When did you get so wise about me?" he wondered distractedly.

"I have my moments."

"Hn." He shifted his weight and leaned more on his legs so he was less in my face. "You meant what you said?"

"Of course I did. I don't lie about these things."

"Say it again."

"What?"

"Say it again, onna."

What? Did he think that was easy to say? Did he think it was just something I would blurt out whenever he commanded it? I attempted to swallow the feeling of cotton in my mouth and licked my chapped lips. I just knew that my face had to be flushed as I once again spilled my feelings to the ever unpredictable and dispiriting Hiei.

"Te amos means 'I love you', Hiei. And I do—more than you could imagine and I know that's hard for you because you've never felt it. I don't know how or when it happened, but now it has and there's no stopping it—not even with the Dragon or Jagan or any of your power."

The silence that followed that corny dialogue was the most nerve wracking I had ever experienced. And then Hiei's unpredictable nature kicked in and I found myself trapped once again, this time between his entire body and the laundry, my lips enveloped in his.

Shock numbed my mind and I could only lay dumbfounded beneath the fire youkai as he stole my first kiss. It wasn't until he pulled away a second later with a look of angered dejection that I realized my hesitation had been a mistake.

"I suppose that's not what you wanted," he all but whispered as he moved to climb off of me.

"Yeah right," I said and reached out to tug back on the chain around his neck. "You're not getting off that easy."

Who would have thought I would _ever_ have been brave enough to initiate a kiss? But that's exactly what I did once I had pulled him back to me. He couldn't just cheat me like that, I wouldn't have it. Of course, that was my next mistake because Hiei apparently got the impression that I was trying to dominate over him, but I only realized this when he let out a feral growl and pinned my hands above my head.

I struggled a bit against his hold, always the one to fight against someone who had the idea that they could control me, but my resisting didn't last long since he began kissing me again. His natural heat and unique smell overpowered my senses and my mind became foggy so that I relaxed underneath him and he released my hands to instead snake his arms around my waist.

He wasn't holding back this time and I felt my bottom lip split open from the force he was putting on the dry skin. His chest rose against mine as he took a deep breath of the scent and then he abruptly pulled away a bit to lick the metallic substance from my mouth, an evil looking grin spreading over his face before he sank his fangs into the skin where my neck joined my collar bone.

Gasping from shock, confusion, and the burning sensation from the small wound, I shoved my hands against his chest. Another growl escaped him and he once more pinned my hands above my head while he lapped at the blood that was bubbling from the bite he had given me and I could only think, _What the hell?_

"Hiei….?"

He sat up, a sort of triumphant look on his face as he gazed at what he had done and then he caught sight of my face. His pleased expression melted instantly and was replaced with alarm as realization dawned on him. He had lost control of his inner animal, that much I knew for sure, but what exactly _did_ he just do?

I pried my sticky lips apart and then licked them before I tried to speak again. My stomach did a full 360 when something sweet and tangy hit my taste buds. _That's not _my_ blood._ I looked questioningly toward my Guardian and saw that his lips were in the same chapped condition as mine.

My eyes must have widened or taken on a slightly wild look because Hiei began backing away from me. I attempted to speak, but I didn't get a word out before he turned and ran. The door behind him opened and Kurama stepped in, a breeze barely ruffling his hair as Hiei sped past him.

Kurama spared a glance over his shoulder, looked at my dazed face, and then chuckled. "First blood, Kat?"

"Huh?" I replied _ever-so-smartly_.

"You got a taste of Hiei's blood." I nodded. "And now you want more of it." My eyes widened in panic. I thought I had gotten over my blood issues!

"It's only natural," Kurama added, keeping things as simple as he could so that my fuzzy mind could process it. He handed me a glass of clear liquid and then sat beside me on the laundry. "This will help tame those cravings."

I took a drink and then coughed, not expecting the bitter taste that followed. "Where the _hell_ did you find Vodka, Kurama?"

"This is a yacht, Kat, it has a bar." He blushed. "And actually Christy found it."

"Drunk?"

"Not quite. She's currently on a….buzz, I believe would be the correct term."

I nodded and then raised my free hand to my collar bone. The bite wasn't bleeding anymore, nor was it scabbed over. In fact, it felt more like a scar than anything else. My brow furrowed. "Kurama?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did Hiei bite me?"

His head jerked toward me and his eyes were wide with surprise. "Where?"

I shrank back and pointed to the area. "Holy crap, what does it _mean_?"

Realizing he had worried me, Kurama calmed himself and then informed me, "He marked you as his."

"Say what?" I blurted.

"He wants you as his mate," Kurama clarified.

"B-But…." I sputtered. "Isn't that like being _married_ in youkai terms?" He hesitated and then nodded. "But I'm only fifteen! I want to graduate junior high and high school and get married in human terms first!"

"Explain that to him. I believe his marking you at this time was just an instinct. Hiei isn't the sort to do something like this in a place where everyone could find out seconds after. He'll no doubt be reasonable if you decide to lay down ground rules."

I whimpered and flopped back on the laundry. "Why does this kind of stuff happen to _me_?"

"Do you not want to be his mate?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I love him, but I don't want to commit to anything right now. I have a life ahead of me with stuff in it that I want to do before I start a serious relationship. Now I'm stuck 'til death do us part and I didn't even have a say in it!"

Kurama pulled me into a sitting position and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Kat, do you remember what I told you at Saint Francis Folly?"

"About how you promised to help me with my problems no matter what they were?"

"Precisely, and I'm not the only friend you have who will do that for you." He chuckled again. "You're also not the only one of us who is in a relationship, although the rest of us are not as serious as you are." I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face. "But we'll all have to go through this eventually and we'll help each other through it."

I smiled gratefully up at my fellow fox and then hugged him before we were interrupted by a high-pitched, "Here Kitty, Kitty, _Kitty_!"

Giggling and accepting Kurama's hand up, I said, "I think I'm wanted."

We walked up the stairs together and stepped out onto the deck under the hood that overshadowed the helm and one of the bars. Our team was lounging in the setting sun that lit up the stern, but we were a couple people short.

Something shiny glistened near Kurama's arm for a second, but when I turned to look, it wasn't there anymore. Kurama was staring at the area near _my_ arm with a smile on his face and when I turned back, Tiara jumped out in front of us with a captain's hat perched on her head, an eye patch covering her right eye, and a sword in her hand.

"Arrgh, mateys! We be plannin' a party with the liquor stores on this here ship. The cap'n calls for rum! Stop dawdling and report to the stern, ya scurvy swabs!" That message being relayed, she jogged out onto the stern and over to Yusuke who she saluted and shouted, "Ahoy!"

"Kurama, we were almost swash-buckled by Cap'n Tiara and….Is that Hiei's katana?"

I could almost see the sweat drop forming on Kurama's head. "I believe so."

It was then that our suspicions were confirmed by Hiei running past us and cursing at Tiara before he turned to me and snapped, "Onna, get your friend and her ridiculous tendencies under control!"

It was my turn to gain the sweat drop expression. "Apparently he's no longer worried about dooming himself to a life with me."

"What did I tell you? We'll help each other through this."

"As long as Tiara can be a distraction, I guess I won't ever have to fight with him."

"Kat!" Christy happily exclaimed as I stepped out onto the sunlit deck.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Yusuke greeted. "We thought we lost you there for a while."

"Aye," Tayg agreed. "Ya looked like ya spent a for'nigh' at O'Malley's Pub 'n' damn near didna make it out. Do ya feel like ya were hit by a truck?"

I shook my head to show that it wasn't throbbing. "No hangover here, Tayg, but I might have one after this party that Cap'n Tiara is planning." The aforementioned girl had finally given into Hiei's furious glare and promises of a painful death and returned the katana to its rightful owner.

"So you're up to getting completely trashed?" asked Yusuke.

"Why not? We've successfully accomplished our tomb raiding expedition and without any losses of life. I'd say that's a cause for celebration. Besides, it looks like Christy already has a head start on us and we can't leave her out there in La La Land all alone. She might get lost."

"Or fall overboard," added Kuwabara and we all looked over to where Tiara was helping Christy regain her balance on the railing after a mad laughing fit about nothing.

* * *

~TIARA'S POV/A FEW SECONDS EARLIER~

"Give it to me," Hiei ordered, holding his hand out expectantly for his katana.

"I don't want to," I said, tightening my grip on the sword in the belt loop of my pants. "You might use it to hurt me."

He rolled his eyes as if that thought had never crossed his mind. "No, I won't, the foremost reason being that I don't know what will happen to the rest of us if I seriously hurt you in this dimension. However, if you do not return my katana to me within the next five seconds, I will be sure to cut open your gut, pull out your intestines, and leave you as a meal for the creatures of Makai as soon as we arrive back."

I handed it over as quickly as I could and scooted closer to Christy in hopes that she would block any advances made by the angry youkai. "What's the other reason?"

"What?"

"You said 'the foremost reason' was that you didn't know what would happen," I clarified. "If it's the foremost reason that means that there's at least one reason after that one. What is it? I don't suppose there's a chance that you're actually starting to warm up to me?"

Hiei shook his head and shrugged. "If there has to be another reason so you don't assume that's correct….I guess it's because you're the onna's friend. I can't have my charge angry with me. She would probably endanger herself." He looked over to Katie with an unreadable expression on his face.

"It sounds like he's warming up to Kat more than you, Tiara." Christy giggled a bit and then started laughing uncontrollably, almost falling over the railing and into the ocean in the process. I had to grab her arm to steady her and Hiei gained an amused expression.

"So," I began once Christy was safe and had calmed down. "Do you have any questions for us?"

"Questions?" I nodded. "Why would I ask _you_ anything?"

"Because we're Kat's best friends, dumbo," said Christy.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hiei asked.

"Don't try to act like nothing happened between you two," Christy said, giggling again. "Kat's not the only one who can smell things. I think _you_ especially were having a lot of fun."

"Fun is for the weak," he replied.

"Yeah, just like love apparently," Christy retaliated and then stood up on the deck, moving her hands in wild gestures as she lowered her voice and said, "I'm Hiei Jaganshi and I don't believe in love or having any fun unless you take me to kill something or eat ice cream. I also don't believe in showing emotion unless I feel like being a _crankasaurus_!" At his confused look she pointed a finger at him and went on, "Yeah, you heard me! I don't like you because you're a crankasaurus and you don't like when I make up awesome words. But because Kat likes you, I guess I'll be nice and tell you that if you make her sad, I will come after you with my rose whip and angry boyfriend and I_ know_ you don't want to fight _him_."

Hiei smirked. "Well then, I suppose I should tell you that your friend is now mine and if anyone lays a hand on what is mine, they will find themselves missing something vital. And since you're feeling so brave, I will also tell you that if you so much as whisper anything about what you smelled to the detective or the oaf, I will cut your tongue out since I know how much you enjoy using it."

"Okay, I guess that sounds like a good deal," agreed Christy.

"However, I think I do have a question for you."

"Really?" I asked, excited that I would know something that Hiei didn't.

"Hn," he said seriously. He paused for a moment as if trying to remember something and then said, "She threatened me with something called The Gummy Bear Song. Why should I be threatened by something that sounds so ridiculous?"

I laughed and then joined Christy in standing on the deck. "Well, if you're not into happy songs, I'm sure it would annoy you." With a glance at Christy, we both burst into the chorus, "_Oh, I'm a Gummy Bear! Yes, I'm a Gummy Bear! I'm a yummy, chummy, funny, lucky, Gummy Bear! I'm a jelly bear! Yes, I'm a Gummy Bear! I'm a movin', groovin', jammin', singin', Gummy Bear! Oh yeah!_"

"If I were the begging sort, I would beg you to stop," Hiei interrupted. "However, since I'm not, I'll just end this by saying that I can't decide whether the song itself or the singing was worse."

"You asked," pouted Christy.

"I wish I would have followed my instincts and decided not to do so." Why did it seem like Katie and Hiei had more and more in common?

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

"And on that note," I interjected. "I think it's time we started this thing, yeah? Maybe I can get Dusty to sing Pink's Get This Party Started with me."

"More singing?" Lalo nearly groaned.

"Whoa!" I yelled, jumping sideways and away from the Brionian lying on the deck. "What are you still doing here?"

"We thought that Lara could watch after him," said Tiara. "The real one, obviously, since he'll have to stay in this dimension. The boat's on autopilot to the local port near her house and I gave him directions so we could get started on finding a way home right away."

I nodded my approval. "Good plan. Now that that's settled, what do you guys say to me making us some drinks. Maybe some White _Russians_? I bet Tiara could find some ingredients to make some _French_ food to go with them. Then we could get Tayg to dance an _Irish_ jig."

I cast a sidelong glance at Hiei to see if he was picking up on my references to the mixed cultures that we had among us and how comfortable we were with discussing it. Even though his posture said that he was more than apathetic about the suggestions, I could pick up on the smirk he had on his face and as I walked by him, he nodded ever so slightly which showed his gratitude.

* * *

I've known Yusuke Urameshi for a lot of years and when you spend the majority of your time with a punk like him, you do a lot of things you shouldn't—skipping class, staying out late, sneaking into clubs, and drinking, just to name a few. But in all the time I spent with the young spirit detective, I had never drank as much as I did on that yacht. If anyone had caught us in our drunken states, they would have had great material for a perfect anti-drinking commercial.

Christy was the first to leave our happy company since she had about two stout Vodkatonics head start on the rest of us. Twenty minutes into our raid of the liquor stores, she was found heaving over the side of the yacht and Kurama helped her over to the couch that was near the bar on deck where she promptly passed out. Tiara went next being the lightweight that she is. Yusuke (in all his _extra_ loud-mouthed glory) almost fell down the stairs when he took both of them down to their cabin.

Dusty followed shortly after her sister and Tayg also took her to bed once he had downed several more shots of whiskey and had his fill of making fun of Dusty for her 'not bein' able t' hold her liquor'. Kuwabara, like Yusuke, was also being louder than usual, clumsier, and commenced in proclaiming his love to every female (and Kurama who he mistook for a female) in an incessant babble until Hiei tripped him over the coffee table and knocked him out.

Then there were only the three of us and Lalo who was serving as the watchman. Kurama and Hiei had clearly had more drinking experience because I gave up after chugging a Flaming Dr. Pepper (Yusuke's idea of putting a flaming shot glass of rum into a larger glass of beer with amaretto flavoring). Apparently I had been drunk enough that I accidentally spilt the flaming rum on my hand before dropping it into the beer. Kurama smothered the fire with a towel, but it was after this incident that Hiei took me down to the laundry room where he could bandage my hand and put me to bed.

Several hours deep into the night, I was awakened by wood creaking and, in my still-half-drunk-half-hungover-and-partially-awake state, I dreamt that Hiei had gotten up and that we were in a much smaller row boat which was about to tip over.

"What are you doing?" I mumbled. There was no reply. "Hiei?"

"What?" groaned Hiei, but he was right behind me rather than at the other end of the boat like I had dreamt.

"What are you doing? Stop rocking the boat."

"I'm not rocking anything, onna. Go back to sleep."

"I'm awake and the boat is rocking." The sound of wood creaking woke me up a little bit more and I turned my head to him. "See?"

With an expression of confusion, he sat up as the boat tilted sideways and then suddenly lurched back the other way so that I was thrown very forcefully onto him. Cocking eyebrows at each other, we turned to the porthole and looked out onto the moonlit ocean before the sky suddenly became dark with clouds and the boat tipped forward. We slid down the floor and into the wall before the boat leveled out once again. That sobered me up real quick.

"What the hell?" I whined, holding my pounding head. "Who's driving this thing?"

The yacht tilted again and we slid back in the direction of the door. I grabbed the handle and hauled myself to my feet, wobbling as I tried to walk up the stairs. Hiei had to grab my arm when the boat lurched again so I wouldn't fall back down the stairs and then we made it to the deck.

"Help!" Lalo yelled down to us from his lookout post. "They need help!"

"Who needs help?" I shouted over the howling wind and spitting rain.

Hiei had limped us both onto the stern of the yacht, but now he sat me down, ordering, "Stay here."

He grabbed onto the front railing when the deck unexpectedly slanted sideways again, but he reached for me too late as I had already slid to the right side and collided with the railing there. He glared at me, but I matched it with a glare of my own.

"What? You think I planned that?"

"Kat!" I jerked myself to my feet and spied Christy and Kurama's heads bobbing above the water some fifteen feet away. A wave washed over them and they reappeared a moment later coughing and wiping saltwater from their faces.

"Hold on, guys!" I turned back toward the bar area of the ship looking for some rope or something. "Hiei, do you see any striped life preserves?"

"Wait." He was now beside me.

"What do you mean 'wait'?"

"Do you not find it strange that we're the only ones left on this boat? They were all below deck just as we were. Why did we all come up here during a storm?"

"What are you—?"

The boat rocked and a massive wave swept over the deck.

Christy screamed, "Ka—!"

My feet were washed out from under me and I passed right under the lowest rung of the railing. Cold water splashed overtop of me, invading my lungs, burning my wounds, and tossing me every which way until I didn't know where was up. Luckily, somebody did and it wasn't surprising that that somebody was Hiei and he was now keeping my head above the water.

I heaved salty liquid back into the ocean and, after a moment of gasping for air, told him, "When we get back, I'm going to tell Koenma to give you license to kill whoever you want."

He was too busy looking behind me to tell me that I was being stupid. "Whether we live through this or not, I think we'll be seeing him very soon."

I turned in his arms to look behind myself and saw us being drawn toward an enormous whirlpool which, despite its size, was not moving the yacht at all. I turned back toward Hiei, but he had taken his bandana off of his Jagan Eye and was tying his wrist to mine.

Entwining his fingers with mine he advised, "Do not let go." Then that arrogant smirk came onto his face, the one that always said he was about to make a snide comment. "And you may want to hold your breath this time."

He pushed me out toward the whirlpool and Kurama seized my other hand as he passed by. Christy caught Dusty's hand, Tayg grasped hers and Kuwabara's, Kuwabara gripped Yusuke and he, of course, had Tiara. I closed my eyes as we spun farther and farther from the surface and took a deep breath. Too bad I hadn't kept my eyes open a second longer, otherwise I would have seen a glowing portal open on the ocean floor.

* * *

"Ugh….What is that smell?" I heard Tiara ask.

"Blood and death," I mumbled against the moist soil where I was laying. I had smelled that scent in many different varieties over the course of our journey. I wearily lifted my head and tried to push myself off the ground to get a look at my surroundings.

"It's a typical smell for a land of youkai," Kurama informed us.

"Oh yeah, I thought this place looked familiar," drawled Yusuke. "I guess I never took the time to tour the Makai beaches before."

"There 'r' some nice places, I'll give it tha'," said Tayg. "But th' smell's likely caused by th' pointless quarrels o' greedy youkai. Tha's why I like th' Ningenkai."

"As if there aren't pointless quarrels there," spat Hiei and then he grabbed me around my middle and hefted me to my feet, keeping his arms where they were while I tried to make the world stop spinning.

"I meant no offense, but there's less in th' Ningenkai, at any rate."

"That's because some of us are civilized and can solve something with words rather than hacking someone's head off. I didn't mean any offense to you either, Hiei." I rung out my hair and realized that it was no longer in the fishtail braid that it had been in not an hour ago. "Oh, damnit! The Makai? That means that I can't walk anymore. How did we get here anyway?"

"I would have thought you would be excited," a sinister voice echoed from the trees lining the beach. "After all, you're one of us now."

"I've had enough of wusses hiding in the shadows and talking tough," shouted Yusuke. "Why don't you show us who you really are so I can kick your ass!"

"As you wish, Son of Raizen," the voice said before a shadow separated from the rest of those being cast by the trees and moved to the sand in front of us. A figure grew from the grainy earth and then took the shape of a human….or I suppose he must have been a youkai if he was here.

Overall, he didn't appear very intimidating. He actually looked like a teenager, older than Yusuke, but about his same size. He had cold blue eyes and messy dark blue hair that stuck out on top and clung to his neck underneath. It almost appeared as though he had pulled himself out of the water moments before us, shook off like a dog, and decided that he looked good that way. He stood before us adorned in a simple white long-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans with an arrogant stance that matched any teenage boy's. He would have been attractive if he didn't seem like such a jerk. _Wait a minute…._

"I know you…." I muttered, squinting my eyes at him. He looked so familiar.

"Hey, didn't that guy work with your brother?" Christy asked.

_That's it!_ "Craig Richmond!" I gaped.

A smirk crossed his face. "Not quite. My name is Takeo when I'm in the Makai. But I'm glad you remember my human name. For a second, I thought I had made a mistake in destroying your house. ….But only for a second." His smirk grew. "You see, I'd rather not go to spirit prison."

"Too bad, 'cause that's where you're goin'!" yelled Kuwabara.

"Why would you go there anyway?" I asked before he and Yusuke could start pummeling the guy.

"Aw, mommy and daddy really did keep secrets from you, didn't they?" Takeo tsked. "Poor Kat and Christy didn't know that their parents were spirit detectives."

"What?" we both cried.

"Yeah, in the American division, but it turns out that the spirit detective in Japan, Shinobu Sensui, was an unstable lunatic—good for us youkai, but bad for you humans—and they called in your parents for help in controlling the youkai escaping into Ningenkai after he lost his job. But I am a thief and an assassin and at that time, I was hiding out in Ningenkai, waiting for my next victim. I couldn't let your parents take me in; I'm a little claustrophobic when it comes to prison." Here he chuckled. "So I got a job in the same factory as your dear brother and learned all about your families."

He glared at Christy and I before he continued, "I thought that I would just get rid of all of you at once, but I didn't count on you being good students and staying home from that vacation. After I blew up the ship and found you weren't among the bodies, I had to rework my plan and wait for the opportune time to set it into motion."

"Where is the Relic of Shifting Dimensions?" I demanded.

"Oh, you mean this?"

He had kept an arm behind his back the whole time, but now he pulled it forward to show a bronze artifact in his hand; the appendage, itself, seemed to be burnt and his shirt sleeve was scorched. The artifact, however, was in perfect condition. It was a series of revolving two-dimensional circles welded onto a handhold with a sort of trigger-like mechanism. Upon closer inspection, the revolving circles appeared like an astrological calendar, although I'm sure it wasn't a calendar since its purpose was to change dimensions.

"Apparently when the inputted challenge is successfully completed, it explodes and creates a new copy of itself for the next challenge. I knew you were familiar with the older games, but I was sure at least some of you would die if I set the Relic for the newest version. I thought it would be ironic for you to die in the world of your childhood hero, but I should have known I couldn't kill the Reikai Tentai with such a simple challenge."

"Nothing simple about it," I snapped, clenching my fists. My wounds were burning from the salt water and I was fighting the need to collapse in Hiei's arms, but I wasn't going to back down from this bastard. He killed my family. "Lara Croft's life is full of danger and tough situations; that's why it should be left to her. But you know what? You didn't hurt us by sending us there. Because of you, we've grown up more together and created a stronger bond than we had before. Your plan failed completely."

Takeo scowled at me. "Whether the plan failed or not was not my goal. My goal is to kill the last of the Hunt and Wilson families so that I may grow stronger, become invincible. Not even the Reikai Tentai will be able to stop me! But you two, you are destined to be my downfall. Now is the time to end this. I won't be taken down by the likes of you!"

"They won't have to," Kurama now spoke, his tone low and deadly. "You haven't become invincible yet and you can't escape your fate. You will fall—by my hands."

"Hold on, fox," said Hiei. "The privilege won't only belong to you. Detective, come take your friend."

Yusuke stepped forward and took Hiei's place in holding me upright, muttering, "Uh, Hiei, your hands…."

With a smirk in place, he raised our tied wrists for all to see and flexed his forearm ever so slightly. The bandana was turned to black ash and was blown away by the ocean breeze, separating us so he could fight.

"Hey wait a minute!" cried Christy. "This is me and Kat's fight! He killed _our_ families!"

"I understand that," Kurama told her. "But because of his actions, we didn't have time to train you to fight youkai. Granted he is of a lower class, a C class at the most, he would still be able to dispose of you two rather easily."

"But Kurama—"

He smiled gently back at me. "You've already defeated him more than once in your own ways and you, Kat, have done so much for us already. Let us return the favor."

I couldn't argue. I was injured and not being able to walk would put me at a serious disadvantage. I nodded my consent to them. "Alright, but remember that I've got your back. Friendship is a highway."

"Are you finished?" Takeo demanded impatiently.

"I wouldn't be in such a hurry to die if I were you," sneered Hiei.

"I believe we should even the odds," suggested Kurama. "I won't use my rose whip if you won't use your katana and speed. Otherwise, this will be a very short fight. Better to let him keep his dignity; he's worked so hard. Agreed? No weapons."

Takeo rolled his eyes and nodded while Hiei shrugged and untied his blade from his waist. Turning toward Yusuke, Tiara, and I, he directed the hilt toward Tiara. "You are only to safeguard this, understand?" She nodded enthusiastically and tied it around her own waist. He then turned back to Kurama. "You go first; I want to have the final blow."

"It is I who shall have the final blow!" Takeo was fast, but not fast enough and I was beginning to notice more than one similarity between him and Yusuke. Let's face it, Yusuke never had a battle plan—neither did Takeo, he just charged in and swung a punch. Kurama easily caught his arm with one hand and raised the elbow of his other arm to the back of Takeo's neck. However, he stopped short of knocking the other youkai out.

"Not like that, I'm afraid. You'll have to be a little more cunning if you're going to outwit a fox."

Takeo smirked and slipped through Kurama's fingers, returning to the sand beneath his feet and causing Kurama to sink up to his calves in the substance. Takeo appeared beside him and landed a kick to the face, busting Kurama out of the trap and sending him flying a couple feet.

"How's that?" scoffed Takeo.

Kurama regained his feet. "Much better. Let's try again, shall we?"

They both charged this time, but as soon as they were within hitting range, Takeo returned to the sand and came up behind Kurama. Having expected that, Kurama rolled to the side and kicked toward Takeo's head, but he had disappeared again, bursting out of the sand near Kurama and punching down on the redhead. Kurama backflipped and Takeo once again returned to the earth and didn't reappear for several seconds.

Kurama searched the area for any ripples in the sand, but there were none. Takeo jumped up right in front of him, but this time Kurama had noticed the black shadow skim over the sand and stop in front of him so when Takeo resurfaced, the fox already had a kick flying toward his face.

"Damnit!" Takeo cursed when he realized that Kurama had found him out and he now had a bruised face.

He rolled sideways toward the nearest tree and then melted into the shadow it was casting onto the sand. Ribbons of darkness uncurled from the trunks of the surrounding trees and encased our friend in a leathery cocoon, only exposing his head and the feet he stood on.

The next move was predictable, but, seeing as though he was stuck, Kurama couldn't dodge the shadow spear that slithered across the ground toward him like a snake and then reared up to pierce into his hip. With a small cry, he was knocked to the ground and left completely open for any other attacks.

"A C class," Takeo laughed. "I bet you weren't expecting to be beaten by one of those, eh, Youko? I can't wait to absorb your power."

Kurama was only halfheartedly listening to his taunts, though, because the ground had caught his attention. The blood that was oozing from his side had been sucked into the sand like it had been parched and I assumed that that he had been surprised by this since he hadn't seen it in some time. However, when his eyes flicked to the trees and then down to his feet where the initial spurt of blood had fallen, I realized what the whole thing had meant. Those were Makai trees and considering they were used to feeding on the remains of their citizens, Kurama's spilt blood could be used to his advantage.

It was then that Kurama decided to reply to Takeo, "You forget, Hiei and I are in this battle together. He would step in if he thought I was out of plans."

He then kicked his foot, spraying the bloodied sand at his opponent, which was followed shortly after by a hungry tree root. Takeo was barely grazed by the plant and he quickly ducked down beneath it, combining with its shadow. Fortunately, this action also pulled his concentration away and allowed for Kurama's escape.

This time, when the shadow ribbons came toward him, Kurama felt out with his energy to sense their creator who was coming in diagonally to knock him down. At the last second, Kurama twisted in that direction and used the hand that had been holding his wound to throw more blood onto his enemy.

Takeo diverted his ribbon attack to a second tree root to hold it back and then used it as a springboard to the other side of the fighting area which was near us. Now with panic-filled eyes, he acted on the instinct of a thief and took a hostage. Unfortunately for him, the hostage he had grabbed around the shoulders and now held a knife to was Christy.

"Ha! Now what, Oh Great One?" Takeo nervously called out.

"That was a very unwise move," Kurama commented as he stalked toward the frightened youkai. His voice was not entirely his, though, instead being a mixture of his own and a deeper, smoother, yet more deadly voice—that of his alter ego. One green eye had turned a shining gold and his glorious red hair was beginning to take on silver highlights.

"K-Keep away from me!" Takeo warned, holding the knife closer to Christy's jugular vein.

"You ignorant child," the fox scoffed. A vine shot out from the woods and ripped the knife from Takeo's hand and then wrapped itself around his wrist. "There are few things that anger me more than cheaters and cowards, but it is when a pathetic weakling threatens those that I love that things starts to get ugly." Another vine pulled his arm from around Christy's shoulders and tied it down, too. "_You_ are the pathetic weakling who just crossed that line."

Takeo glanced down to his shadow, but Kurama was too quick for him to react. A third vine sprung from the foliage and wrapped around his neck, hauling him off his feet and holding him a foot off of the ground.

"I couldn't help but notice that you have to touch a shadow in order to use it. You should have perfected your powers before challenging those much stronger than you. Hiei, I believe this is where you wanted to take my place."

With a bloodthirsty smirk in place, Hiei strode toward the helpless youkai, dark fire spinning and crackling around the arm where the Dragon resided, just waiting to consume the poor wretch. It was here that I couldn't stop myself from interfering between my Guardian and his target. Calling out to the tree closest to the one that held Takeo, I used one of its vines to carry me to my destination.

"Hiei, you can't kill him," was the first thing that popped out of my mouth.

"What method do you want me to use then?" Hiei questioned me.

"No, you can't kill him, period."

"What?" Hiei demanded, his crimson eyes burning. "He's the one who killed your family. He threatened you—what's mine!"

"I know, and I know he deserves to die, but I can't let you kill him."

"Why in all the three worlds will you not allow me to torture and kill this worthless sack of entrails?"

"Exactly for that reason!" He took on a confused look by this exclamation. "What you just said right there. You want to see him scream and writhe in pain—kill him because it will give you pleasure. Do you know how sick that made me feel when Kold Kinkade was showing me that same attitude? I can't let you turn into him! Why would I want to be bound to that?"

His eyes softened and I knew I had won him over. "Besides, what could be a worse punishment than knowing that _I_ was the one who saved his life?"

Hiei shook his head. "Hn, I suppose nothing." He lifted me from the tree limb and held me upright, being sure to subtly graze the scar on my collar bone before he turned back to Yusuke. "Detective, call the ferry onna. Now."

It took a moment for me to recover from the shiver that had run down my spine, but now that I had, I smiled up at my Guardian and mentioned, "You know, Eneco, there's this phrase in a human marriage ceremony where the couple vows to stay together ''til death do they part'."

"That is also true of a mark that makes you my mate, but I suppose that was to tell me that you will be informing me of all the ningen courting rituals when we return?"

I turned in his arms and took a quick nip at his bottom lip before using a tree root beneath us to tug me away from him and into the woods.

"Kat, get back here!" Christy ordered.

"If you get eaten by a big monster again, me and Kuwabara aren't going to come save you," Yusuke called after me.

I had snuck around behind them and now reemerged from the trees to bump them both onto the ground.

"Hey!" shouted Yusuke.

"Wait 'til I get my hands on you!" said Kuwabara.

"You didn't do anything last time, Yusuke. And you'll have to try and catch me first, Kuwabara!"

"Kat, please," begged a now normal and exasperated Kurama. "Why must I be the only adult here?"

This was the scene that Botan popped in on with a glowing portal that would take us to Reikai where we would officially end our mission and return home. I was so ready for a hot bath and a long nap.

* * *

**A/N:** Whew, that was a long one!! Yeah, there was some more fluff in there. I hope that turned out okay. It was really difficult to write and even harder to lead up to so I would appreciate some feedback. Remember, next chapter is the last one for this story, but I might consider doing a one-shot for someone if there's something they would like to see written that wasn't in this story.

Review if you like!!

~Kateracks


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** Well, this is the end of the story and it's a really short epilogue which I kind of feel bad about, but I think it's time that this story was over. This chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers and those who have been reading. I couldn't help but smile ever time I updated. :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Tomb Raider.

Enjoy the final chapter!!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One—Everything's Going To Fall Right Into Place  
(Epilogue)**

After our successful expedition of inexperienced tomb raiding, it had taken us almost a week to recover. There were still wounds to heal and sleep to be caught up on and although Koenma had sent a cleaning crew to our house, I felt more comfortable recuperating at Genkai's compound where my _former_ Guardian could keep an eye on me. Currently we were lying in bed, looking out at the full moon and discussing our future among other things. Hiei couldn't get past the fact that just because he had marked me, that didn't mean that we were legally married in Ningenkai terms and until we were, I wouldn't be mating with him. For some reason that just didn't feel right to me, but then again, I wasn't born a youkai either.

"You know what?" I digressed from our current conversation. "I feel like going out tonight. Wanna go somewhere?"

"Where?" Hiei asked, a little put off that I had suddenly gotten distracted.

"Wherever you want. After all, you'll be taking me there." I grinned when he rolled his eyes at me, but nonetheless, he pulled me onto his back and jumped out the open window.

The good thing about being gone so long is that when you come back, without a doubt some things will have changed….and sometimes there are even presents waiting for you. When we returned, for example, we found a very good friend of ours waiting for us.

* * *

~FLASHBACK~

_We had just gotten back from listening to Koenma's surprised reactions at Takeo still being alive when we brought him in and Botan's excited squeals that she knew we would be able to succeed all along. We had entered the living room of the compound and found a dark haired, scruffy figure standing at 5'9" in jeans and an orange T-shirt, occupying our couch and talking to Yukina—a fact that both Kuwabara and Hiei weren't too happy about since they didn't know the stranger. However, he wasn't a stranger to all of us. _

"_Bud!" Christy shouted excitedly, tackling my older brother. _

_He laughed as she squeezed him in a hug and lifted him off of the ground. "Well, if it isn't my good buddy Christy."_

~END FLASHBACK~

* * *

I had been scared of what he might think of my being a fox youkai, but he already knew about it from Koenma. Apparently, while we were still on our journey, the background of Takeo had been revealed even though his whereabouts had not and once the pacifier-bearing prince found out, he had called in our families to strike a deal. Not only had our parents been spirit detectives, but our families had also become members of Koenma's staff after they had died since the whole thing had been a strange circumstance involving youkai. Since the cause of their deaths was about to be caught, Koenma thought that it would be fair if one person could come back to life and become a spirit detective again. The only restriction was that it couldn't be someone who had been in the business before and so Bud was voted to be the lucky candidate.

"Where are you going?" my ever protective older brother demanded when we entered the clearing where they were still training. He paused his session with Yusuke to cast an intimidating look over at Hiei.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Bud had become fast friends, having to go through hell together with Genkai. Tayg, Jin (when he came back to visit his cousin), and even Touya (their ice master friend and another acquaintance of Yusuke's) also got along. Bud and the Irishmen spent the nights drinking and laughing and Touya would take shifts with the rest of us to make sure they didn't have too much. He was a cool-headed individual. The first night that he was here, I decided that I liked him and hoped to see more of him in the near future.

"Out," I replied. "There's a full moon tonight. We won't be too long."

Bud's eyes narrowed. "Just keep your clothes on. If you get pregnant, I'll kill him first and then I'll kill you."

I waved him off as Hiei passed through the trees on the opposite side of the area. "I'm always in control."

"Hn," Hiei snorted underneath me. "We'll see."

* * *

~THIRD PERSON POV~

Kurama had also spent a lot of his time at the compound, only returning home once to tell his family that some old friends (Jin and Touya) had come to visit Yusuke and he would be staying at the compound to spend time with them. He was actually hoping to spend some extra time with Christy before taking her home to meet his parents, but she had been a little distant as of late. He glanced out the window and, catching sight of what phase the moon was in, let out a deep sigh.

"Ah, the full moon," Youko purred from the depths of his mind.

"I suppose you'll insist on being let out?" guessed Kurama.

"Of course," said his counterpart. "I would venture to say that I have earned it with how well I behaved during that last escapade."

"I guess that would be fair," conceded Kurama and, sighing again, he climbed out of his window.

A silver mist surrounded the redheaded boy as he walked through the forest in which Genkai's compound was hid. His eyes swirled to gold and he grew in stature, his gate lengthening with each step he took. His once red hair that was bouncing as he walked was now silver and flying out behind him as he relished the feel of running with inhuman speed. Fox ears replaced human ears and, at last, the nine tails spouted. Youko Kurama was free.

His long run stopped in a clearing as he contemplated what sort of havoc he should raise that night. His hand caressed the trunk of a nearby tree before he looked up at the full moon, smiled, and gave his lanky body a good stretch.

"Night out, Youko?" a female voice asked.

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

The silver fox looked up to the branch where Hiei and I were sitting with a mischievous smile on his face. I knew that Kurama had to be kicking himself for making a deal with his counterpart to let him have the nights with full moons. After all, Youko was a thief and there were plenty of nice jewelry stores just waiting for him to commit the perfect crime.

Coming to a quick decision, I nodded west of us. "Christy's by the lake—that way—if you were wondering."

Youko's smile widened. "Thank you, Kat." He made a move to start off again, but suddenly stopped and turned back as if he forgot something. "I think I should admit that we are a bit alike."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. But I'm going to give you the same warning that my brother just gave me. If you get her pregnant, I'll kill you first and then I'll kill her. Save the both of you the fate and keep your pride where it belongs."

He chuckled, but nodded his head in acknowledgement of my warning before he bounded off again, tails whipping playfully in his search for our wolf friend.

"Pervert," I murmured after him.

"Hn," agreed Hiei.

* * *

~CHRISTY'S POV~

Footsteps nearing the lake snapped me to attention and I jumped to my feet, bringing my rose whip to life. A tall, silver-haired fox youkai stepped out of the forest, a playful grin on his face. He was really hot! Where did he come from?

"Hello, Christy," he purred out in a smooth voice. "It's good to finally meet you."

Now I remembered. That was the same voice Kurama's had changed into when Takeo was threatening my life. "Youko?"

"There's only one," he said, his sexy smile still in place. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

I looked back at the lake. "Sitting and thinking."

"It is beautiful isn't it?" He walked over to me and took my hand, pulling me back into a sitting position at the water's edge. "What could you possibly be thinking about on a night like this?"

I smiled. His timing was so wrong to be asking me that question. "You."

"Really?" he chuckled.

"Well, I had just never seen that side of Kurama before. He was still himself, but he was taking on a little piece of you, too, and I thought he was going to tear that poor guy's head off."

Youko narrowed his eyes. "I would have liked to."

"I know, but it wasn't his place to and I think he would have realized that if he was thinking more rationally. He had a really scary expression on his face and I thought I'd lost him."

"You don't need to worry about Shuichi. Even if he does turn into me, he always finds his way back."

I looked up at him and then burst into giggles over how far I actually had to look up to meet his face.

"What?" he asked.

"I feel really small. Now I know how Kat must feel," I replied. Youko shook his head. "But I guess that her size didn't make a difference in anything. I mean, look, she's got Hiei now. I always imagined her with a tall guy like you. Personally, I'm glad that _I_ got you guys instead. I like you way more than Hiei."

"Is that so?" he said, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. I think Jaganshi's a crankasaurus, as I've said to his face, and I annoy him with my hyperness and cool words that don't exist."

Youko chuckled at that. "You do have quite an extensive vocabulary. But you're right, they do have each other now." He was quiet for a minute. "Did you know the hybrid marked your friend as his mate?"

"Really?" I squealed. "Yay! Now Kat will be happier….I hope."

"And what about you?" he asked. "I know Shuichi has discussed the mating rituals of youkai with you."

* * *

~YOUKO'S POV~

"Me? Hmm…." She trailed off thoughtfully.

_Don't you dare!_ Shuichi yelled at me. _I agree with Kat—we have to be married in human terms first!_

_Honestly, Shuichi, must you take the joy out of everything?_ I pouted.

_Youko…._ he growled warningly.

_Alright, alright, have it your way. I'll just kiss her for now._

"I don't want to be bit," Christy concluded.

"I see." I slumped my shoulders and feigned disappointment.

She hugged me. "Don't worry, I still love you a whole bunch! Both of you!"

_That's good to know._ I bent and kissed her lips, bringing her closer to me and scratching her black ears until her tail began thumping enthusiastically in response. I took this as a sign that I could deepen the kiss, but when I pulled her head closer against mine, she mumbled "Uh-uh" against my lips. I pulled away.

"Why not?" I asked, dropping my ears for effect.

She flipped my hair over my head. "Oh stop. The last time you choked me."

I kissed her neck and then nuzzled her cheek, breathing into her ear, "I'll behave this time." With a wicked grin, I pulled her to me and wrapped my tails around her waist to prevent any movement. "Just say when you've had enough—assuming you still can."

* * *

~KAT'S POV~

"Should we go help your friend?" Hiei asked.

I thought this over for a moment since I love being able to burst other people's bubbles, but then I decided against it. "Nah. We'll find them in the morning. By then I should be energized enough to kill them both if I need to."

I kissed him lightly on the lips and then allowed him to pick me up so we could head back to Genkai's compound. Normally I hated being carried bridal style, but this time I relaxed and leaned against his chest, a small smile coming onto my face.

"What are you smiling about?"

My smile grew. "Just about how our inexperience in so many affairs still led to success." I closed my eyes and looped my arms around his neck, inhaling his scent as we melted into the shadows of the night.

* * *

**A/N:** El Fin!! The ending may have been a little corny, but I'm pleased with the overall outcome of this story. I would once again like to thank each of my reviewers **jasmine**, **Death 101- Fox Version**, and **Valinor's Twilight**. Even though there were only three of you, you still encouraged me with your comments. I would also like to thank my readers who were staring at their computer screens and sending me good thoughts....or maybe not. -.-' Either way, thank you all very much!! Now onward to better stories! Off you go!

Review if you feel like it!!

~Kateracks


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